


Somewhere Beautiful

by mayers



Category: Sweet/Vicious (TV)
Genre: Also Tyler and Luke just don't exist :-), Every chapter has a song to go with it so feel free to listen along, F/F, Playlist, Road Trip, Romance & Adventure, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-10-29 14:09:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 24,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10855599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayers/pseuds/mayers
Summary: Jules and Ophelia momentarily run away (after a ton of bargaining on Ophelia’s part), and what’s supposed be a laidback road trip to the Grand Canyon slowly turns in something neither of them would have ever expected. Definitely hoped for, but never expected.





	1. You're Still A Mystery

**Author's Note:**

> I owe the most enormous thank you to @unstablescribbles for being such an incredible beta-reader!!!

_Track 9 on Bleachers’ “Strange Desire” album_

As Jules settled into the passenger seat of the silver Chevy, the responsibilities she’d have to tend to once she got back home were already flooding her head. She surveyed the familiar gas station they had stopped at, which was only a five-minute drive from their central Californian campus, and reminded herself of the fact that a road trip was what she needed. Ophelia came around after filling up the tank, settling behind the steering wheel and shutting her creaky door.

As if she could read Jules’ mind, Ophelia spoke.

“You brought your laptop and, like, the entire library,” she acknowledged, with a sarcastically petulant look. "We're only gone for four days. You won’t fall behind in anything. You’re _Jules._ "

“Four days is long, though,” Jules worried, scratching her temple.

“It’s nothing!” Ophelia offhandedly replied. “Besides, it’s reading _week_. I can’t believe I had to cut the trip down to four days for us to come to an agreement.”

“Emphasis on the _reading_ this week is for,” Jules said playfully.

“Well...” Ophelia squinted as she thought of a retort. “We’ll be reading signs. Happy?”

Jules answered with a smile, and reached to grab the binder she had stashed in her bag by her feet. She opened it and rested the map and directions she’d printed out on her lap, the morning sun washing the page in an orange glow. Jules pointed a finger at the top of the list.

“If we leave now... and stop for lunch around here,” Jules said, moving her finger to a spot on the map, “we should be able to get to this motel by 4. Dinner and lights out by 10– we need to leave early to get there by 11 and have the whole afternoon for Grand Canyon hiking!”

“Great, did you time our bathroom breaks, too?” Ophelia teased. Jules looked at her friend through unimpressed eyes.

The negotiation had three rules. Jules asserted two: it would only be four days, as studying and actually passing classes was a priority, and they’d save room for nutritious food amongst all the diner grub and vending machine snacks. Ophelia’s one and only rule was that the music would be controlled 50/50. _To adhere to the Road Trip DJ’s Code of Conduct,_ was the way she put it.

“Road trip!” Jules exclaimed, putting her phone on front camera mode and leaning over to smile next to Ophelia. Ophelia squinted and pursed her lips, pulling off a smolder for the camera. The two of them laughed when Jules navigated to the photo they just took.

“That really captures us,” Ophelia said proudly, starting the rumbling engine and handing the aux cord to Jules with an excited smile. “First track of the road trip,” she stated, “this sets the tone for everything. You realize the trust vesting in you, right? The high esteem I hold you in?”

“Audiobooks of the entire ‘Gossip Girl’ series, got it,” Jules answered with a thumbs up. Ophelia chuckled, then immediately stopped herself.

“Wait, I have no idea if you’re being serious or not.”

Jules gave her another unimpressed look and plugged in the wire, the first notes of Bleachers’ “You’re Still a Mystery” spilling out of the speakers. Ophelia smirked, pulling the car out of the gas station and tapping her fingers on the steering wheel.

“You approve?”

“I _love_ these guys,” Ophelia answered. Jules smiled, glancing over to look at Ophelia’s profile. Nodding to the beat of the song, Jules’ worries over being away started to fade. Ever since Ophelia stumbled into that foul alley and into Jules’ even fouler life, Jules had felt less and less anxious. Of course, the last thing Jules would have ever predicted was that this stubborn, brash, totally unfiltered girl would eventually become one of her best friends, but life had a way of surprising you.

Ophelia eventually turned onto the highway and sped up, the opened sliver of her window inviting the wind to scoop in and send her green hair flying. Staring ahead, she reached to close the window, but every push and pull of the button was unresponsive.

“Uhh... slight problem...” Ophelia stammered.

“What?” Jules urged.

“I, well...” Ophelia unsuccessfully shoved her hair out of her face. “My window’s not entirely closing?”

“Huh?” Jules gasped.

“It’s chill, it’s good,” Ophelia sighed, unsuccessfully downplaying the shittyness of the situation, “This car’s seen worse.” She kept pushing her hair out of her eyes, mumbling, “Less slight problem, this is making it harder to see.”

Jules quickly and coolly took the elastic off her wrist and reached towards Ophelia.

“Keep your hands on the wheel,” Jules advised.

“Oh, too bad, I was gonna-” Ophelia stopped herself from making a sarcastic comment. “Sorry. Carry on.”

Jules chuckled, grabbing bundles of Ophelia’s soft hair as strands flurried every which way. The aroma of Jules’ soft, bubblegum-scented perfume and the feeling of her fingertips through her hair strangely calmed Ophelia right away, making her completely forget about the problem for a second as she stared at the traffic ahead. Finally collecting every piece of hair to put a messy ponytail/bun hybrid on top of Ophelia’s head, Jules sat back and admired her creation.

“You smell good,” Ophelia said.

“Thanks!”

“Is this look killin’ it or what?” Ophelia bragged, quickly checking out her hair in the rear-view mirror.

“I’m just glad you’re not killing _us_ ,” Jules muttered.

“So, those plans I had about jumping the car over ten school busses is out of the question?” Ophelia asked. Jules scoffed, her dimples prominent as she chuckled quietly.

“Hey, you laughed at one of my shitty jokes,” Ophelia boasted, looking over at Jules with a pointed finger. Jules stifled a grin, turning back to look at her map.

“So, we’ll be on this highway for like... an hour before we make an exit,” she stated, “We’ll eat there. And don’t forget about the nutrition rule.”

“What nutrition rule?”

“You agreed to it, Ophelia,” Jules reminded.

Ophelia sighed, “What do I have to do, Dr. Oz?”

“Just make sure you’re hydrated. And try and have at least some vegetables. We won’t be able to hike through the Grand Canyon just running on sour worms.”

“If I could survive that training you put me through, I could _easily_ do that.”

“Still.”

“I know that you’re right, but I’m pretending like you’re not. Cool?”

“Fine by me,” Jules chuckled, folding the map and putting it back in her bag. She pulled out a water bottle, opening it and handing it to Ophelia. She took a long sip and handed it back to Jules, who finished the bottle.

“Got my intake for the day,” Ophelia said proudly, secretly trying for the window switch again with no success.

“Not even close,” Jules answered.

“Why do you want me to suffer?” she whined.

“Oh, gosh darn it,” Jules muttered, “I think I forgot my sleep mask.”

“Not your sleep mask!” Ophelia exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Jules answered, quickly realizing Ophelia was joking again. She looked at her best friend through narrowed eyes, and was met with a goofy grin. “All the Zetas have specialized ones, okay? I’ve been using it since I moved in there. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep without it.”

“Can _I_ get a specialized one? Of, like, that still of the pizza on the roof in Breaking Bad?”

“You and Breaking Bad, I swear,” Jules mused. She glanced over to see Ophelia nodding seriously. Ophelia reached to try to close the window again, and it astonishingly worked, shutting completely.

“Holy shit!” Ophelia laughed.

“No way,” Jules mumbled, “Okay, just... don’t open it until you get it fixed.” Ophelia sneered, quickly pulling the switch down and lowering the pane of glass.

“Ophelia!” she exclaimed, laughing. Ophelia laughed with her, closing the window again and quickly putting her hand back on the steering wheel.

“Tempting fate is _fun_ ,” Ophelia said with a proud smile. Jules shook her head, sitting back in the seat and stretching her arms out.

“What’s the longest car ride you’ve been on?” Jules asked.

“This one time _felt_ like the longest,” Ophelia said, squinting, “I was in traffic... on the way to get a strawberry sundae… and there was a lot of traffic… and I really wanted a strawberry sundae.”

“That counts.”

“Thank you. Technically speaking, though, we drove to see family in Nebraska for Chanukah once. And that took, like, a century.”

“Nebraska seems nice,” Jules regarded, looking out her window.

“I wouldn’t know,” Ophelia added, “We spent the whole time inside listening to my aunt talk.”

“About?”

“I… don’t know.” Jules laughed to herself, looking at Ophelia squint as she failed to remember. “Your longest car ride?”

“School trip to Portland in eighth grade,” Jules recalled, watching the green air freshener hanging from the mirror sway back and forth, “I specifically remember going to the zoo. And how I almost cried over the bird show being cancelled.”

“How come?”

“Not sure, the sign just said something like ‘show cancelled, we’re sorry’,” Jules answered.

“No, how come you almost cried?”

“Oh! I kind of... was super obsessed with birds.”

“Serious?” Ophelia flashed intrigued eyes at Jules, subconsciously touching her hair.

“I _loved_ bird-watching with my dad,” Jules explained, rubbing her hands together, “It’s weird; he got into it because his captain said it was a good way to unwind when he got too stressed from work. He took his advice and I went with him every time. So, I was super excited to see all these birds up close at the zoo, you know, instead of just seeing them through binoculars? But, that didn’t work out.”

“That’s literally the saddest story I’ve ever heard,” Ophelia mumbled. Jules laughed, digging her cheek into her shoulder.

“It wasn’t supposed to be, sorry,” Jules giggled.

“I’m just imagining... young, innocent Jules being told there were no birds...” Ophelia said seriously,. “She just wanted to see birds...”

“Tag-line for when I sell the movie rights,” Jules chimed. Ophelia broke her serious expression with a smile.

“I’d see that.” Jules chuckled again, pulling out her phone and checking to see if her stats test grade was posted yet. Ophelia tightened her grip on the wheel, looking over at her best friend. Jules’ fingers tapped on the keyboard at the speed of light, her long blonde locks held in place with braids and at least ten clips.

Jules looked up, catching Ophelia’s glance, and grinned at her. Ophelia mirrored the smile, turning to look at the grey stretch of road ahead of them and thinking that a total of 14 hours driving didn’t even seem that long anyway.


	2. Anything Can Happen

_Track 3 on Ellie Goulding’s “Halycon Days” album_

Jules and Ophelia laughed as the song faded out, impressed with their spirited rendition of it.

“I had no idea you had such a passion for synthpop,” Ophelia mentioned.

“I believe I wasn’t alone in singing-”

A shiny, black car suddenly materialized to the right of the Chevy, silencing Jules as it edged scarily close to them at 100mph. Ophelia gasped as the driver darted in front of them and cut them off, making her swerve. She finally let her breath out, realizing her right arm was stretched to the side, palm firm at Jules’ collarbone. Ophelia quickly pulled back.

“Fucking... fucker,” Ophelia muttered, shaking her head. Jules swallowed hard, the abruptness of the last moment dazing her. She pinched the bridge of her nose, getting over the shock of the near-accident, mind whirling.

“You okay?” Ophelia asked. Jules nodded quickly, looking up at meeting Ophelia’s concerned gaze.

“Forget me,” Jules said with a half-chuckle, “you just avoided that accident like a pro.”

“Well,” Ophelia answered smugly, “I watched all the Fast and Furious movies, so...”

“Yeah, that’s definitely it,” Jules replied. Ophelia snickered, heart still racing.

“All that... being a bad ass made me hungry.”

“Well, we’re...” Jules began, referencing her map, “I’d say, ten minutes from where we were going to stop to eat. Can you wait ten minutes?”

“Yes, but I’ll scream the entire time.”

“I’d expect nothing less.”

The girls eventually made their way to the parking lot of a place called ‘Darlene’s Diner’ that Jules had looked up beforehand. It was about four hours away from their starting point, in a small SoCal town Jules had already forgotten the name of.

“Their banana splits are apparently out of this world,” Jules mentioned, taking off her seat belt once they stopped.

“I know you’re just trying to trick me into eating fruit."

Once they got out of the car, Jules took a photo of the two of them while walking in front of Ophelia, who was giving the camera a thumbs up.

Darlene’s Diner’s bland exterior was no match for the colorful panels and 1950s decorative style within the restaurant’s walls. Ophelia and Jules were quickly greeted by a hostess and seated at a booth with bright red seats.

“Where _are_ we?” Ophelia mused once the hostess dropped off the menus. Jules smirked, gazing the vintage movie poster for a film called ‘Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman’ that hung on the wall beside them. “I know if I was fifty feet tall, I’d _definitely_ just be picking up cars like that. All day.”

“Imagine all the money you’d have to spend on sun block, though,” Jules said sympathetically.

“I’m sure that’s all she wanted, Jules,” Ophelia added. “They all thought she was attacking the city when really, she was just protesting the market price of sun block.”

“Hi, there!” The two of them looked over to see a woman with a notepad standing at their table. “Can I get you started off with some drinks?”

“Water, please,” Jules said.

“You guys do root beer floats?” Ophelia asked.

“We sure do,” the waitress answered. Jules shot Ophelia a dramatic look and Ophelia tensely chuckled.

“I’ll get one of those,” Ophelia said politely, then looked over at Jules, “and a water.” The waitress turned on her heels and Jules shook her head, amused.

“You know I’m just worried about you, like, collapsing one day from a sugar high, right?” Jules explained, then got a little serious. “But, for real, I’m just joking around- I don’t want to _actually_ control your appetite and make you feel like you _have_ to get-”

“Jules,” Ophelia said with a soft chuckle, “of course you don’t. I know.” Jules smiled again, then looked down at her menu.

“Chicken wrap seems good,” Jules hummed.

“So does the triple decker burger,” Ophelia added, “and there’s lettuce and tomatoes and onions on it. Nutrition.” Their waters and Ophelia’s tall root beer float appeared on their tabletop.

“Here ya go,” the waitress said. “I’ll give you some more time with the menu.”

“Thanks,” Jules replied sweetly. The waitress walked away and Jules looked around the diner once more. “I know we’re not that far from home, but I love the feeling of being in a different town. It’s, like, a weird sense of rest.”

“I totally get what you mean,” Ophelia answered, looking up at Jules through thick eyelashes, “the whole ‘just passing through’ thing just makes you feel so chill, right?”

“Exactly,” Jules mumbled. Ophelia bit the inside of her cheek, looking around introspectively.

“We _so_ have to listen to some Obé when we head back out,” she mused. "He always gets me thinking all... deep and stuff.”

“Deal,” Jules agreed with a giggle. The next time the waitress came around, Ophelia ended up ordering chicken tenders with fries and Jules got the same.

“No vegetables? You’re livin’ on the edge, Jules Thomas.”

“Well." Jules simply shrugged.

“I’ve been thinking about that banana split since you mentioned it.”

“I always dream about dessert before I even have my meal,” Jules admitted, leaning forward like she was telling Ophelia a secret.

“Oh, man,” Ophelia said with wide hazel eyes, “they ought to lock you up.”

“Shut up,” Jules said, leaning back with a silly grin on her face. Ophelia smiled back, biting her bottom lip. She stared at the blonde, thinking about how much she could rag on Jules without worrying that she would take it seriously. She also liked how she couldn’t see anything _not_ to like about Jules.

“If we’re sharing that banana split, I hope you don’t like whipped cream,” Jules warned.

“So, you’re usually nice, but all bets are off once there’s-”

“Whipped cream,” Jules finished. Ophelia smirked again, looking down in fears that she was staring too much. “But you can have the cherry.”

“You don’t like maraschino cherries?” Ophelia exclaimed. Jules replied with a grossed out face. “Just when I was starting to think you were normal.”

“Stop,” Jules said with another snicker. Ophelia gasped once she felt Jules lightly kick her shin under the table.

“Ow!” she exclaimed.

“Crud, did I actually do it that hard?” Jules clutched the edge of the table, peeking under.

“What, did you forget you’re, like, a black belt in everything?” Ophelia said, wincing.

“I’m so sorry!” Jules said. “Oh my gosh, I’m really sorry.”

“It’s official,” Ophelia groaned, “they’re gonna have to amputate it.”

“Ophelia,” Jules mumbled seriously.

“Kidding. It doesn’t hurt at all,” Ophelia said with a smug, self-satisfied smirk.

“One day you’re gonna actually get hurt,” Jules muttered, “and I won’t be there to help you.”

“Yeah, you will, because you’re gonna be the one who hurt me.” Jules stifled a grin, but smiled at the waitress when she dropped off a caddy of condiments.

“She gets a smile and I don’t?” Ophelia asked, leaning in.

“You know what you did,” Jules retorted. Ophelia sucked her teeth and looked away with a sarcastically cross expression. Jules snickered to herself, straightening out her napkin and looking up at Ophelia’s mess of a bun, realizing she never fixed it.

The waitress soon dropped off their identical plates of food and Ophelia smiled, looking down at her plate as if it was a work of art.  Ophelia glanced up to see Jules’ bright pink phone case in front of her face, followed by a camera shutter sound. Jules looked at her screen happily. “That’s a nice one.”

“No more paparazzi. Vacation.”

“I like preserving memories, okay?” Jules defended. “And this is only the third photo I’ve taken.” Ophelia dramatically rolled her eyes and Jules quickly snapped her camera again. “Fourth.” Ophelia snorted.

“You’re going to be glad I take so many photos,” Jules said matter-of-factly, taking the ketchup bottle and squeezing out a dollop beside her fries.

“You can tell futures now, Thomas?” Ophelia said, shaking the mustard bottle, “Tell me, will I meet my soulmate?”

“Yes,” Jules answered with a mockingly evocative voice, “she’ll come into your life when you least expect it. And I see great fortune. Okay, there you go, pay the psychic now.”

“Thanks,” Ophelia said arrogantly, knowing she wouldn’t soon forget Jules referring to Ophelia’s soulmate as a _she_. “How much was that reading?”

“Uh...” Jules completely lost her words once she saw what Ophelia was putting on her plate. Ophelia stuck a fry into the reddish-yellow mixture and popped it into her mouth. “What the...”

“It’s musketchayo!” Ophelia said, “Half ketchup, one quarter mustard, one quarter mayo. You have to get the ratio just right. Otherwise, it’s just disgusting.”

“Oh, _then_ it’s disgusting.”

“Listen, I don’t judge you...” Ophelia argued, quickly met with Jules’ raised eyebrow. “...That much.” Jules smirked again, biting into one of her chicken tenders and looking at the girl across from her to take a mental photograph.


	3. Naturally

_Track 2 on Amir Obe’s “None of the Clocks Work” album_

Ophelia nodded her head to the beat of her favorite song, quite full from the lunch and the banana split she had barely finished twenty minutes ago. They had just passed the state border and were officially in Arizona; Ophelia could swear that the climate was already ten times hotter.

“This song is good,” Jules said, pointing to the radio, “Also, I might lapse into just a tiny food coma.”

“You recited the _three_ directions to me like nine thousand times, so I think I can handle the Jules GPS going into sleep mode,” Ophelia said, looking at the time and seeing that they had about two hours until they’d get to the motel. “Dream of nice things.”

“That reminds me,” Jules pointed out, eyes already closed, “I had a dream last night that I got lost in some huge mall and you had to find me.” Ophelia smirked at the idea of Jules dreaming about her, mainly because it meant she wasn’t having her nightmares, but also a little because it was just nice to know that she was on her mind.

“What’s that supposed to symbolize?” Ophelia thought out loud.

“Probably that you shouldn’t go shopping with me,” Jules mumbled, turning in her seat and getting comfortable.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Once Jules dozed off, which she did quite quickly, she began letting out faint snores and Ophelia was tempted to pull over just to film it for future blackmail purposes.

Ophelia let the entire album play, mouthing along to the words every so often and realizing she felt more relaxed than she’d been in a while. She thought back to how excited Jules got once she brought up following maps and organizing routes during her road-trip pitch; a pitch she was genuinely scared to give. She figured if Jules ultimately said no, it’d be for a good and valid reason. But the idea of getting rejected over a trip she had already built up so much in her head stung, and Ophelia wasn’t shy to show her enthusiasm once Jules agreed to go.

She sighed to herself thinking about the cheeky text Harris had sent in the morning after she’d left her apartment. Ophelia had memorized it by now.

‘ _Safe travels, O! Not many ppl get the opportunity to be stuck in a car w their crush for a total of 14 hrs, so have fun!’_ As he had probably expected from her, she replied with a snarky message and a middle-finger emoji. Harris was getting more and more impenitent with his teasing, and there was no sign of him stopping anytime soon.

Once Ophelia was finally honest with herself, she realized the teasing wasn’t irritating her because he was misguided. It was irritating her because it gave her false hope. The feelings Ophelia had for Jules were getting stronger, whatever those feelings were, and she knew that ultimately, Jules would surely reject her, whether she liked girls or not. Jules needed somebody level-headed and composed. And in Ophelia’s opinion, she certainly wasn’t those things.

Still, Ophelia couldn’t resist the pleasant thoughts of being more than just friends with Jules, of being able to hold her hand, to hug her for just a little bit longer, to kiss her when she smiled that certain smile. Ophelia forced away her thoughts, feeling odd for daydreaming about the girl who was sitting right beside her.

She focused on the gray expanse of concrete ahead of her. Traffic wasn’t bad and her a/c was fighting a good fight against the heat the afternoon sun was bringing down, so she had no reason to complain.

Jules only slept about 20 minutes, waking up with a deep inhale. She adorably rubbed her eyes with her hands, giving Ophelia the exact smile she had just been daydreaming about.

“Morning,” Ophelia said, “You talk a lot in your sleep, you know.”

“What?” Jules was suddenly stiff. A smirk grew on Ophelia’s face and she licked her lips, shrugging casually.

“Honestly, it was like you were on some truth serum,” Ophelia lied. “Some of the things I heard...”

“Ophelia,” Jules muttered, “Seriously, what did I say?”

“I don’t wanna embarrass you,” Ophelia answered, grinning wider once she saw Jules’ disheveled and confused state. Seeing that made Ophelia lose all composure.

“Gotcha,” Ophelia chuckled. Jules playfully shoved Ophelia’s shoulder through her own laughter. “You _must_ have some really deep secrets to react like that, Thomas.”

“Shut up." Jules blushed, giving Ophelia one last swat.

“You can’t abuse the driver,” Ophelia said, straightening her back. “It’s a rule.”

“You said you only had one rule." Jules stretched her arms above her head and let out a sigh. “The music thing.”

“Can I add a new rule?”

“That’s against the rules.”

“This is getting way too meta for me, man,” Ophelia muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. Jules laughed and looked out the window, focusing her eyes on the greenery lining the side of the freeway. Her heart was still beating a little quicker than normal at Ophelia’s joke- or _idea_ of a joke. She wondered if she did actually talk in her sleep, what secrets she’d spill. Most likely the nagging thought she’d been having about the nature of Ophelia’s friendship. She quickly pushed away the thought.

A red van with at least ten bumper stickers weaved in and out of their lane, and Jules felt a groan come out of her throat.

“What a dingus,” she muttered. “Do people think blinkers exist just for fun? Like, on a ‘use them only if you feel like it’ basis?”

“Tell ‘em how you _really_ feel,” Ophelia said, kind of amazed to see Jules in this state. Sure, she’d seen her worked up and angry, but never simply irritated like this.

“Honestly,” Jules ranted, her voice getting louder. “Do they think the drivers behind them just know where they’re going to go? Are we mind-readers all of a sudden?”

“Wow,” Ophelia chuckled. “Okay, I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t kind of entertaining. ‘Dingus.’ A good old roast, Jules style.”

“I’m sorry,” Jules sighed, “I’m always a little crabby when I wake up. I know it’s not cute.”

“You’re always cute,” Ophelia said, biting her tongue right away. “Uh, do you want to stop for coffee? I think an exit is coming up.”

“Please,” Jules whined, “I can _feel_ myself being-”

“A dingus?” Ophelia said with a laugh. “Also, I don’t want to risk opening my window, so I hope you’re not embarrassed going through a drive-thru with my door open.”

“The ends justify the means."

Sure enough, they were only a couple of minutes away from an exit where a sign promised a Starbucks.

“A Venti coffee,” Ophelia recited to the machine at the drive-thru, “Two sugars, please.”

“Anything else?”

“Get something for yourself,” Jules whispered. “On me.”

“And, um,” Ophelia mumbled, “tall latte macchiato with no foam. Heavy on the caramel drizzle. With a pump of vanilla and an ice cube, please.” The lady on the other end told her their total and Ophelia drove up, a forced smile on her face. She felt Jules’ relentless stare.

“What?” Ophelia mumbled.

“I would have never expected that,” Jules said, entertained.

“I know, I’m one of _those,_ ” Ophelia muttered to Jules, shrinking in her seat. “Don’t tell anybody.” Jules only stared at her with a sneer. “Listen, I’m not the weirdo that doesn’t get any milk or cream with their coffee, okay?”

“Don’t even try it,” Jules sang, handing the money to Ophelia. The barista took the cash with a smile, not even fazed by Ophelia doing everything through the open door as opposed to an open window, and told them their drinks would be out soon. Ophelia thought about how she'd probably never be back in this remote town in west Arizona ever again, which made her feel a bit more relaxed about her current unorthodox drive-thru process.

“Thanks for paying,” Ophelia said quietly. “How much spending money do you have left? Because I _know_ you have a comprehensive daily budget in that huge binder of yours.”

“No foam,” Jules said, looking up, a sly grin on her face. Ophelia groaned, leaning her forehead on the steering wheel.

“You _are_ mean when you wake up,” she complained, "I can't even tease you." Jules laughed, giving Ophelia a gentle rub on her back.

"I'll be nicer when I get my coffee."

The barista soon handed them their beverages and they were on their way. Jules cradled her hot cup in her hands and checked the time to see that it was nearly a quarter to four.

"There's no way it's almost four o'clock," Jules said.

"What, are we behind schedule?"

"No, we're doing great," Jules answered, looking out the window to study a small high school they were passing, "It just feels like the day has gone by so quickly."

"Time flies when you're having fun." Ophelia flaunted a smug smile.

"No, that can't be it," Jules said, an amused expression on her face. Ophelia's smile quickly dropped into a scowl.

"We'll talk when you finish that coffee." She earned a laugh from Jules, who made a point to take a sip of her drink.


	4. All Mixed Up

_Track 4 on 311’s self-titled album_

Once they got back on the freeway, it was only about a half hour drive to the motel. They made it to the ‘Starlight Inn’ by 4:15pm, their cups empty and their muscles tight.

Jules and Ophelia got out of the Chevy, both groaning once they stretched their arms towards the cloudy sky. There were only three other cars in the small parking lot, which Ophelia studied with a suspicious expression.

“It’s like, eerily quiet here,” Ophelia said, mirroring Jules as she grabbed her bags. “Let’s hope we don’t get killed.”

“We’re not gonna get killed,” Jules laughed. Ophelia closed her door, checking twice that it was locked.

“Is this or is this not a place where, like, ninety percent of horror movies start?” Ophelia asked. Jules smirked, coming around the front of the car. Ophelia softly clutched Jules’ arm as the two of them made their way towards the blue sign that read ‘Main Office.’ Jules smiled proudly.

“First of all, you need to stop watching those if they scare you,” Jules said, “and second of all, like you said, I’m a black belt in, like, everything so you got nothing to worry about.”

“Can’t roundhouse kick an angry spirit,” Ophelia mumbled.

“I didn’t realize we were up against supernatural things, too.”

“Don’t ever rule those out, Thomas,” Ophelia said warily.

The two of them entered the small office, the air smelling like dust and the front desk littered with travel brochures. A balding man looked up from his desktop computer, offering nothing but an expressionless look to the two of them.

“A room for the night, please,” Jules said, unfazed by her surroundings.

“‘Starlight’ is a cool name,” Ophelia mumbled, hand still on Jules’ arm.

“Cash or credit?” he said monotonously.

“Credit,” Jules answered, already having gone over how she and Ophelia were going to evenly split up costs on the trip.

“Oh, man,” Ophelia said, pointing to the stereo playing 311, “these guys are underrated.” The man stared at Ophelia with dead eyes.

“Two single beds or one double?” he flatly asked.

“Two singles,” Jules replied.

“You guys got memory foam or spring?” Ophelia stuttered.

“Spring,” the clerk answered, putting through the payment.

“Cool, very cool,” Ophelia said. “I never really liked memory foam that much. It gets you too sweaty. Who wants to wake up sweaty? Not me.” The man sighed to himself, giving Jules a receipt and a key.

“Check-out’s before 11 a.m.,” he said, his eyes back on his monitor. “Enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you,” Jules said, turning towards the door with Ophelia still close to her. She looked down at the key to see the number 8, counting down with every door they passed.

“God, I could not shut up,” Ophelia mumbled, her hand bunching over the denim jacket Jules had on. “You know me when I’m nervous.”

“Are you going to vomit?” Jules asked.

“Not this time,” Ophelia answered.

“That one ice cube settled your stomach?” Jules teased. Ophelia couldn’t help but crack a smile, loosening her grip on Jules’ arm once they made it to their door.

Jules quickly unlocked it, opening it and turning on the light to reveal a small, characterless room. Two single beds with grey spreads sat in the middle of the space, separated by a nightstand that sat under a green painting. There was a door to the bathroom in the far corner, and a desk with a chair against the opposite wall.

“Cute." Ophelia stepped in and dropped her backpack, “I was hoping for space-themed rooms to go with the name, but it’ll do. How many stars is this place rated?” Ophelia turned and grinned at Jules slyly. “Get it? Stars?”

Jules shook her head with a chuckle, walking to the closer bed and dropping her bags onto the mattress.

“There’s a restaurant across the street that’s open until 10,” Jules said. “We can grab dinner there soon.”

“Sweet. I’m gonna hop in the shower real quick.” Ophelia made her way into the small bathroom while Jules settled in and opened one of her textbooks to squeeze in a reading.

She was lying on her stomach atop her bed when Ophelia came out shortly after, wearing a new pair of ripped jeans and a blue hoodie that Jules mentally planned to steal.

“Whatchya reading?” Ophelia asked, plopping on her bed and rifling around her bag to find a pair of socks.

“It’s for my gender studies class,” Jules explained. “This chapter is about family roles; it’s really interesting.”

“There’s nothing better than actually being into the stuff you’re studying.”

“And nothing worse than hating the material. I remember this natural science class I took freshman year,” Jules recalled, rolling her eyes. “It was basically all just memorizing plant cells.”

“That sounds riveting,” Ophelia answered with a chuckle, settling on mismatched socks. “What’s the dress code on that place we’re going to? Black tie? Business casual?”

“I think you’re good,” Jules said, looking Ophelia up and down with a smile. “I looked up the menu and I’m pretty sure they have a sandwich called ‘The Roadkill.’”

“Sounds like my kind of place." Ophelia leaned back and supported herself with her hands flat on her temporary bed. Jules chuckled again, looking down and flashing her dimples.

“Did I ever thank you? For all your work with, like, planning _everything_?”

“Oh, it’s no big deal,” Jules said with a dismissive wave of her hand. She sat up, cross-legged on the bed as she pushed her book away.

“For real,” Ophelia stressed, her voice dropping the way it always did when she was being serious. “I really appreciate it. It must’ve took long organizing everything, and I have no idea how you did it in, like, one night-”

“Honestly, that stuff is fun for me. It’s like a little puzzle,” Jules said with a laugh, earning a grin from Ophelia. “Thanks for inviting me. And for letting me be a control freak.”

“Hey, be a control freak all you want."

“Besides, you’re the one who has to drive the entire time.”

“I wouldn’t know where to drive without the Jules GPS.” Jules angled her head to the left and Ophelia gave her a wide grin, a strand of wet green hair stuck to her cheek. “Speaking of me being totally useless without you,” Ophelia said, “I forgot a hair dryer. Do you-”

“Purple duffle bag, front zipper.”

“You’re an angel.”

“I know.”

After Ophelia dried her hair and Jules finished her chapter, the two of them made their way across the street. Once they were seated at a restaurant table with a paper tablecloth and a cup of crayons, Ophelia quickly got to drawing every animal she could think of. Jules secretly snapped a photo of Ophelia intently staring at her canvas with a red crayon in her hand and her tongue sticking out in concentration.

They both got sandwiches and swapped the fries out for salads on the side, as per Jules’ rule, and when they weren’t talking about what show they’d Netflix once they got back to their room, they ate their dinner in a comfortable silence.

Jules fired up ‘The Office’ once they got back to the motel and propped her laptop on her pillow. After they’d changed into their pajamas and brushed their teeth, the two of them lay on their stomachs on Jules’ bed with their eyes glued to the screen.

“I can’t believe I’m in my pajamas before 9 p.m.,” Ophelia muttered. “I only have my pajamas on at this time if they were already on all day.”

“God, pajama days are the best, though. I shamelessly will leave the house in my pajamas if I want to grab take-out or something, I don’t care,” Jules gushed.

“I’m turning you in,” Ophelia said. Jules laughed, playfully pushing Ophelia hard enough that she had to grab Jules’ hand to not fall off the bed. This made Jules laugh even harder, as she gripped Ophelia’s shoulder with her other hand to pull her close again.

“You forget how strong you are too often for it to be an innocent mistake, Thomas,” Ophelia complained, the feeling of Jules’ grip on her shoulder and her face being so close to hers making her heart race. Jules rested her forehead at the crook of Ophelia’s arm as she continued to laugh. Her hand was still tight in Jules’.

“I’m sorry,” she said, muffled, “your face in that split-second when you thought you were going to fall… oh, my God. It was too funny.”

“You’re ruthless,” Ophelia said through chuckles. “I almost just died!”

“Oh, totally. I hope you’ll recover.” She popped her head back up, her eyes meeting Ophelia’s instantly. Jules studied them for a second, examining the specks of gold in the blend of hazel. Jules didn’t know why, but she just wanted to stare at them for a while, take them in, completely memorize them.

“I think I’ll be okay,” Ophelia answered, smelling like her cinnamon mint toothpaste. Jules breathed out another chuckle, turning her head to face the screen. Ophelia followed, settling back into their original places, letting go of each other and lying side by side, hips pressed against the other’s.

“How many times did you say you’ve watched this?” Ophelia asked.

“The series? At least eight.”

“And you still manage to get straight A's." Jules smirked, loving the comforting feeling of Ophelia being so close to her.

“Not in that freakin’ plant cell class.”

“What’d you get in that?”

“A-minus.”

The two of them went through four episodes when Ophelia started yawning, having not realized just how tired all the driving had gotten her.

She said a quick goodnight to Jules and settled in her own bed, falling fast asleep. She was pretty sure she was dreaming about being at the zoo when she was suddenly awoken by Jules curling up beside her.


	5. Freeway

_Track 1 on Kurt Vile’s “Constant Hitmaker” album_

“You good?” Ophelia whispered into the darkness that flooded the room. “Sleepwalking?”

“Crud, I’m sorry I woke you,” Jules muttered, her breath warm against Ophelia’s shoulder. “Can I please sleep here?”

“Of course you can- you okay?” Ophelia asked, suddenly desperate to turn around to face Jules.

“Yes,” Jules answered. “Well, I was just about to doze off…”

“And?” Ophelia urged.

“I heard squeaking. Like, really loud, close squeaking.” Ophelia barked out a laugh as Jules cuddled closer.

“Wait a minute,” Ophelia marveled, “you, the girl who can kick literally anyone’s ass, are this terrified of the possibility of a tiny little mouse?”

“ _You_ wanna go sleep over there?” Jules grumbled. There were a few seconds of silence.

“Goodnight,” Ophelia answered. Jules smirked to herself as she wrapped her arm around Ophelia’s waist, digging her cheek right between her shoulder blades and letting out a comforted sigh.

Ophelia lay on her side with wide eyes, realizing she was completely tensed up. She flattened her dry lips against each other, shifting closer to the edge of the twin-sized bed to give Jules more space. Ophelia felt her heart pounding in her chest, taking in just how close Jules was to her.

Somehow, eventually, she fell asleep.

“Morning,” Jules said in a sing-song voice. Ophelia squeezed her eyes tight before opening them to see Jules sitting at the end of her bed, blonde hair up in a neat ponytail, hand holding out a grey plastic cup. “It’s no latte macchiato, but.”

Ophelia gave the cheerful girl a slow blink and a smirk, sitting up in bed and accepting the warm cup with eager hands. The sun shone through the blinds, leaving shadows of black stripes against the back wall of the small motel room.

“We should head out in about twenty minutes,” Jules said, looking down at her watch and back at Ophelia. “Did I give you enough time to get ready?”

“Damn, Thomas,” Ophelia muttered, letting out a chuckle, “how long have you been up?”

“Only a half an hour. I wanted time to look over the map again and find alternate routes, just in case. When we leave, we can stop somewhere to grab a quick breakfast to go, and we should get to Flagstaff by 11, and we can grab lunch there, then we’ll have-” Jules stopped mid-sentence. “Maybe I should let you gain your bearings before I bombard you with itinerary details.”

“No, no,” Ophelia chuckled, taking a sip of her coffee, “this is like one of those morning TV shows. Continue.”

“Well, after we eat, we’ll hike all day, and there’s this restaurant with a great view of the canyon that we’ll have dinner at, then the motel is pretty close.”

“One question." Jules nodded, taking in how undeniably adorable Ophelia’s bed head was.

“Yes?”

“Does that one have scary squeaking, too?” Jules gave her an unimpressed look and pursed her lips. "You know, I didn’t peg you for the big spoon type,” Ophelia teased. A smirk grew on Jules’ lips and she shoved Ophelia’s knee.

“It actually comforts me more than being the little spoon, for your information,” Jules said. “But, seriously, thanks for letting me crash. You know how things are ten times scarier when it’s nighttime. I couldn’t bear it.”

“It’s cool,” Ophelia assured kindly, “and don’t tell anybody this, but I’m the little spoon type, anyway. No wonder we’re best friends.”

Jules answered with a chuckle.

As Ophelia got ready in the bathroom, Jules tidied up what little mess they had left in the room. Her hands trembled with every movement she made.

She was feeling many things. Excited, first and foremost. Of course. She was about to go to one of the most beautiful national parks the country had to offer with one of the funnest people she’d ever met. And worried a bit, too, because, well, she was Jules and anything that involved a tight schedule and the risk of running late got her a bit on edge.

Underneath that, she was utterly and totally distracted. Not because she was thinking about staying on top of schoolwork, or considering that she might be too warm hiking in the sweatpants she was wearing, or wondering how bad traffic would be. Jules was distracted by every thought she had about Ophelia.

It wasn’t until the night before when Jules hastily cuddled up behind Ophelia and held her that Jules finally let herself totally dissect the way she thought about her best friend.

And she’d been affectionate with friends; she’d had hundreds of sleepovers and was never hesitant to be close or, let alone, curl up beside anyone. But, this time, Jules felt something different. Being so close to Ophelia wasn’t the kind of nice it was with her friends. With other friends, it had never been as exciting, as nerve-wracking, as totally and completely addicting. Jules couldn't help but feel like a moth to a flame with Ophelia.

Jules checked the drawers to make sure that they hadn’t left anything behind as she thought back to her entire relationship with Ophelia, and she determined it never really did feel like any friendship she’d had before. There was something different about Ophelia from the start. Even at the beginning, when Ophelia was an unwelcome nuisance with scarily good hacking skills, she made Jules feel overwhelmed in a way she didn’t recognize.

Jules swallowed hard, chalking up her feelings as simple admiration and shooing away the thoughts once she heard the bathroom door open.

Ophelia sauntered out, wearing gym clothes and the biggest smile she could muster at 8 in the morning, and Jules smiled back, realizing she would be okay with her relentlessly distracting thoughts as long as she knew how to push them away like that.

Once they’d checked out, they set back out the road, and Jules played the Kurt Vile song she’d woken up stuck in her head with.

“This is chill,” Ophelia approved, nodding along to the beat. Jules smirked, lifting her phone to snap a photo of the two of them. Jules was smiling, and Ophelia was giving a dirty look.

“I’ll just edit a smile onto your face on all of these when I get home, it’s okay,” Jules mumbled, zooming in on Ophelia’s face in the photo and cockily presenting it to Ophelia.

“ _I'm sort of an expert at Photoshop_ ,” Ophelia quoted the episode they’d watched the night before.

“ _So it turned out fine at the end,_ ” Jules finished with a laugh. She swiftly took another photo, this time with both of them grinning in it.

“Look how nice you look when you’re smiling,” Jules dramatically gushed.

“I will not listen to your self-serving indoctrination.”

“So nice,” Jules continued, looking down at the photo, her eyes glued to Ophelia’s mid-laugh expression. Ophelia took her hand off the steering wheel to knock the phone into Jules’ lap, laughing as Jules gasped. She picked it back up, studying the screen as if the impact could have actually cracked it.

“Will it be okay after that one-foot drop?” Ophelia asked, briefly touching Jules’ shoulder.

“Sure hope so, One Icecube.” Ophelia didn’t want to laugh, and she definitely didn’t want to encourage the nickname, but she couldn’t help it.

After filling up the tank at a gas station five minutes away, Jules and Ophelia picked up a couple of bagels for breakfast. They were two hours into their three-hour drive when they stopped for a bathroom break. Ophelia stayed in the car and was going through her Twitter timeline when Jules came back out from the rest stop, holding two bottles of water.

“Dehydration has no chance here,” Ophelia said, thanking Jules as she handed her a cold water. Jules settled back into her seat when Ophelia felt her phone vibrate, and she looked down to see a text from Harris. She opened the message and her screen displayed a selfie of him in front of the inside of the record shop, which was packed with people. His attached message read, ‘ _Bet you’re happy you’re NOT HERE._ ’

“Oh, man,” Ophelia chuckled, “poor Harris.”

“What?” Jules asked. Ophelia quickly typed back a reply, then handed her phone to Jules as she started the car.

Jules looked down at the photo of a miserable-looking Harris within the text conversation. She chuckled, studying the whole screen. Her eyes caught the message from Harris at the top: ‘ _Safe travels, O! Not many ppl get the opportunity to be stuck in a car w their crush for a total of 14 hrs, so have fun!’_

Jules managed to let out a fake laugh, nervously locking Ophelia’s screen and putting the phone down in the cup-holder. She looked out the window, stomach suddenly numb with butterflies.


	6. I'm On Fire

_Track 10 on Las Kellies’ “Friends and Lovers” album_

“I’m not sure if ‘slacker rock’ can count as a genre, but if it does,” Ophelia shouted over the music and pointed to the stereo, “this song is the epitome of it.”

Jules tapped her knee to “I’m On Fire” as Ophelia hit the steering wheel to the beat, completely oblivious to what Jules had just seen. She stared out the window, noticing Arizona license plates on almost all the other cars on the freeway.

She couldn’t stop picturing Harris’ text to Ophelia, no matter how much she tried to dismiss it. She felt extremely guilty for even reading it, but it wasn’t like she was actively snooping or looking to find something incriminating. Her eyes just darted to the top of the screen; she couldn’t help it.

There had to be an explanation for the text. A bigger story. There was no way Ophelia actually had a crush on Jules. It had to be simple teasing from Harris’ part. But, what if it wasn’t? What if Ophelia actually felt that way and told Harris? Well, of course she’d tell Harris. She was pretty sure the two of them tell each other every detail of everything. But, that was only if there _was_ something to tell. There probably wasn’t. Right?

She was so emotionally restless that she wanted to just blurt it out. Jules played out how that would go in her head:

_‘Do you like me, Ophelia?’_

_‘Of course I like you! Wouldn’t plan a road trip with somebody who bothers me.’_

_‘More than a friend, I mean.’_

_‘More than a friend?’_

_‘Yes. Do you like me more than a friend?”_

_‘This is awkward… I definitely don’t. Please get out of my car.'_

Or something along those lines.

“It was exit 73, right?” Ophelia asked, turning down the music. Jules stared ahead, biting her lip. “Yoo-hoo. Thomas. Exit 73?”

“Oh!” Jules laughed nervously. “Yeah, yeah. 73. Yes.”

“Was your bagel laced with something?” Ophelia said with a chuckle, “and why wasn’t mine?”

“Sorry."

“Is… is everything okay?” Ophelia pressed, looking over at Jules with wide hazel eyes. Jules stared back, studying Ophelia’s concerned expression and parted lips. Jules swallowed hard, sure she looked more scattered than ever.

“I have this group project due at the end of next week,” Jules quickly answered, quietly resenting herself for lying so well, “just stressed about that.”

“Group projects can suck it,” Ophelia said with a grimace. “Will it make you feel better if I tell you about the absolute worst group presentation that has ever happened in the history of time?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Jules replied with a chuckle, endeared by how determined Ophelia always was to make her feel better.

“Tenth grade English,” Ophelia began, “my group and I never rehearsed our parts, so when it got to me, I had absolutely nothing to say. They took all the material. So, I faked fainting to get out of there.”

“Oh, my God,” Jules said, throwing her head back in laughter, “you’re kidding me.”

“I’m not,” Ophelia replied. “Not even the worst part… I got a concussion from hitting a desk as I went down.”

“Oh, my God!” Jules repeated, laughing even harder. “What’s a concussion even like? I’ve never had one.”

“Vomited a lot-”

“Which you’re used to.”

“Accurate. And light-headedness. And total disorientation,” Ophelia explained. “At the end of all that, we got a D on that project. I think the teacher saw right through my act, but I’m nothing if not committed. Well, except when it comes to relationships. And work. And everything else.”

Jules chuckled, the word ‘relationships’ causing her laugh to hang awkwardly in the air. Ophelia looked over sadly, feeling like she wasn’t fixing whatever was going on in Jules’ head.

“What’s the bird scene like in Arizona?”

“Bird scene?” Jules asked. She looked over, making eye contact with Ophelia a second too long. She turned her head and looked out her window, blushing and realizing that Ophelia was referencing her bird-watching. “Oh, um, I remember their national bird is called the cactus… something.”

“When I was little, I thought cacti were filled with cake icing.”

“Cake icing,” Jules echoed, feeling a little less tense once she cracked a big enough smile.

“The spikes are to protect the good stuff, right?” Ophelia said. “The best stuff in the world to me was cake icing.”

“It only makes sense,” Jules added, looking over at Ophelia with a smile again.

She stared at the green-haired girl’s profile, fiddling with her watch as she took in Ophelia’s features. Her thick-lashed eyes… her pointed, upturned nose… her full, ruby lips pulled together in a concerned pout… She was beautiful, there was no denying it. Jules let her eyes linger over Ophelia’s lips a little longer, her heart pounding with worry and excitement at the same time.

Jules looked down at her lap, trying to snap out of it. She might have misread that text from Harris, or if she didn’t, it had to be some kind of joke. Jules told herself to behave how she normally would if she hadn’t seen that text. But she had. And everything felt different.

“I fell asleep without my sleep mask,” Jules announced, once she thought of something to say. “Pretty proud of myself.”

“I’ve said I’m in awe of you before, but this takes the cake.” Ophelia’s mouth turned up into a smirk. “Or the cake icing. You think you had a good enough sleep to hike all day?”

“Even if I didn’t, I’d be too excited to sleep,” Jules admitted. “I can’t believe we both grew up on the west coast and have never seen the Grand Canyon.”

“I know, right?” Ophelia exclaimed, “It’s, like, a _staple_ sight and neither of us have gone? How is this possible?”

“But, we’re going together,” Jules said. “I think that’s great.”

“It is,” Ophelia answered, nodding in Jules’ direction, “and I will get the absolute cheesiest souvenir I can find for Harris.”

“Like, a license plate one?”

“Oh, yes,” Ophelia said with a nod. “I hope they’ll have his name. I only saw my name on a souvenir thing once. I think it was a lanyard.”

“Mine’s not super common, but I’ve seen it quite a few times,” Jules added.

“Wow, brag much?” Ophelia teased. Jules comically rolled her eyes.

“I like your name,” Jules said.

“Thanks,” Ophelia replied with a shy smile. “One time, this dude at a party told me that Shakespeare’s Ophelia character wasn’t fleshed out at all because of the whole ‘only men can be actors’ thing back then. That stuck with me.”

“Theater major?” Jules chuckled.

“Probably,” Ophelia said with a chuckle as well. “Apparently, the fact that an actual girl couldn’t play the role limited his writing. But, I wasn’t actually named after her or anything; I think I was named that just because my mother saw it in a baby book and liked it.”

“I was named after my memere,” Jules replied. “It means ‘youthful.’ What does your name mean?”

“I don’t know, actually,” Ophelia replied, fiddling with the a/c knob.

“Google time,” Jules said excitedly, pulling out her phone. She hummed as she typed into the search bar, and Ophelia stole a glance at her. “It means ‘help.’”

“Help.”

Ophelia hummed.

“Oh, there’s something called ‘Ophelia Syndrome.’ It’s defined as being dependent on another person’s thoughts, feelings, and actions,” Jules read. “Got its name from the play.”

“That sounds torturous.”

“Now all this talk of your name makes me want to listen to that Lumineers song.”

“They never got the rights to my name for that,” Ophelia muttered, turning up the volume as Jules plugged in her phone and searched for the song.

“Are you bitter?”

“Extremely,” Ophelia answered, “but not so much that I can’t listen to the song. I actually love it.” She shared a smile with Jules and nodded her head to the beginning beats of the track.


	7. The Moment

_ Track 3 on Tame Impala’s “Currents”  Album _

The tense vibe in the car eventually dissipated, and by the time Jules and Ophelia reached the Grand Canyon national park’s entrance, they were happily singing over a Tame Impala song. As they approached the line of cars, Ophelia gazed at the pale blue sky, counting only three wispy clouds.

Jules fished out their pre-purchased day passes from her purse, checked to see that it was 11 a.m. and that they were right on schedule, then excitedly squeezed Ophelia’s forearm.

“I can’t wait!” Jules exclaimed. “I’m going to take a million pictures.”

“Haven’t you already?”

Jules replied with a proud smile.

Once they made their way through the line and the park employee gave them the go-ahead, they slowly reached a crowded lot. Within ten seconds, Jules pointed ahead to a empty parking space.

“What would I do without you?” Ophelia asked.

Once they stepped out of the car, their shoulders immediately felt the scorching rays coming down from the midday sun. Jules opened the rear door and reached into one of her bags to toss an orange bottle of  sunblock to Ophelia, who smiled and shook her head.

“You literally thought of everything, Thomas.” As Ophelia spread the thick lotion on her arms, Jules bent down to tighten her shoelaces.

“I’ll come help you with your back,” Jules called from the other side of the car. She gave her sneakers a final glance and rounded the Chevy, gesturing to Ophelia to hand her the sunblock. Ophelia turned, holding up her ponytail as Jules spread the cold sunblock on her freckled shoulders.

“I picked up lots of granola bars and some fruit this morning and I packed them. And I’m gonna bring two water bottles with me,” Jules said. “Do you think that’s enough?”

“I’ll carry some, too,” Ophelia answered, blushing a bit as Jules slid her fingers under the straps of her tank top. “This hydration kick you’ve got me on is addictive. It’s almost as if… water is good for me or something.” Jules laughed and squeezed a drop of sunblock in her palm before handing the bottle to Ophelia and turning around. She patted the sunblock on her face and studied the crowds of people ahead, focusing on the orange horizon just peeking past the cliff’s edge.

“I should write something in sunscreen and let it tan onto your back,” Ophelia said, the cold from the lotion making Jules shiver.

“It’ll be the last thing you do.”

“How about a smiley face?”

“Ophelia,” Jules laughed. Ophelia smirked, making sure every bit of exposed skin on Jules’ back was covered.

They both grabbed their bags and made sure the car was locked before heading towards the bluff. The muffled conversations coming from the crowds grew louder as they stepped towards a glossy panel that had the words ‘Welcome to the Most Remarkable Sight in the World!’ printed on the top of it in bright yellow.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Ophelia mumbled with a smile, eyes travelling the photos and facts scattered on the information board.

“Right?” Jules said. “Pretty cocky.”

“Some of the cleanest air in the United States,” Ophelia read. She dramatically inhaled, then much to Jules’ amusement, started coughing.

“You okay?” Jules laughed, patting Ophelia’s back until she stopped. She kept her palm between Ophelia’s shoulder blades, lingering.

“Inhaled too hard,” Ophelia answered hoarsely. She finally cleared her throat, then looked over at Jules, whose blue eyes stayed on hers before they started excitedly searching behind them.

“Yo,” Ophelia mumbled, pointing ahead, “the huge rocky thing we came to see is that way.”

“Excuse me,” Jules said to a stranger. “Could you take a quick photo for us, please?”

“Oh, my God.” Ophelia laughed and rolled her eyes before she turned around and put her arm around Jules, unsuccessfully masking her giddiness. She looked ahead at the man holding Jules’ phone and smiled, figuring Jules deserved at least one image from the trip where Ophelia wasn’t pulling a face.

Jules thanked the guy and looked down at the photo to see the two of them standing together with goofy grins. She noticed Ophelia’s arm was still around her, and didn’t mind one bit.

“You look _ so _ good in baseball hats,” Ophelia gushed. “Have I already told you that?”

“Thanks,” Jules replied, touching the brim of her Dodgers cap, “and you’re actually smiling in this one.”

“That’s the only one you get.”

Ophelia looked up from the photo to Jules, who was offering a genuine smile. She smiled back, glancing down at Jules’ lips for a moment.

They broke apart and walked past the board over the sandy terrain. Jules had the camera on her phone at the ready as they approached the cliff-side.

They were silent once they looked over the promontory. They towered over a copper-colored river, a running stream surrounded by vibrant and intensely hued rock layers. They stood beside each other peacefully, taking in every bit of beauty the canyon offered.

After a few seconds, Jules spoke.

“Ophelia?”

“Mhm?”

“Thanks for coming up with the idea to come here.”

Ophelia nodded, her hands clammy on the railing in front of them.

“How is this real?” Ophelia mused, smirking once she saw her companion taking photos of the landscape.

“No idea,” Jules said, lowering her phone.

Ophelia’s eyes scanned over the golden rocky terrain and landed on Jules again, who was gazing ahead with her lips slightly parted.

And that’s when Ophelia knew she was a goner. She peeled her eyes off of the girl, looked up at the sky, and realized she was totally and completely in love with Jules Thomas. 


	8. Heaven is a Place on Earth

_Track 1 on Brenda Carlisle’s “Heaven on Earth” album_

There was only one mishap on their hike. Ophelia stumbled on a rock she said ‘had no business being in her way,’ but Jules was quick to whip out a bandage and plant it onto Ophelia’s shin. Once they reached the end of their four-hour loop around the park, they found a fairly flat boulder to sit on that overlooked the valley. Ophelia gazed at the rubble shining in the afternoon sun, her legs stretched out, as Jules took a photo of the sight, thinking to herself that she must have taken at least a hundred pictures.

“I could get used to this view,” Jules sighed. “Let’s move here.”

“Deal,” Ophelia answered, earning a smile from Jules. The blonde quietly yawned and swung her legs around to recline and rest her head on Ophelia’s lap. She stared ahead at the view, pushing up the brim of her cap. Ophelia sat back, looking down at the back of Jules’ head and smiling to herself before taking a gulp of water.

“I thought I had good endurance, but I am dog-tired,” Jules said.

“You do have good endurance! A hike like this would tire anyone out. Plus, you’re probably hungry.” Jules only chuckled. “What are you giggling about?”

“Have you noticed how you never let me say anything even a _little_ critical about myself?”

“I let you say it... I just immediately debunk it.”

“So, you’re the only one allowed to rag on me.”

“I don’t make the rules.”

“Okay... you literally do, but okay.” They laughed together, their gazes still glued to the gold and red peaks spread out in front of them.

Jules drew in another deep breath and glanced down at the bandage on Ophelia’s shin. She soaked up just how relaxed she felt. It’d been months since the last time she could remember not being even a little bit anxious, but today, this moment, she was calm. Serene. Happy.

“Places like these make your problems feel so small,” Jules thought out loud. A cool breeze washed over them.

“Yeah,” Ophelia said, “and make the important things really stand out.” Jules nodded, the nylon of Ophelia’s yoga capris smooth against her cheek. Ophelia brushed her hair off her forehead, her heart thumping in her chest. She couldn’t help but feel like a sucker for assuming her feelings for Jules would linger in ‘maybe’ territory. Of course they were going to get stronger. With someone like Jules, Ophelia’s heart didn’t stand a chance.

“Should we hit up the gift shop?” Jules suggested. Ophelia had never been more thankful for somebody interrupting her train of thought.

“We should.”

Jules stood and offered her hand to Ophelia. She felt her cheeks redden as she took it.

They turned towards the crowded array of shops and restaurants by the entrance, both laughably groaning once they felt their muscles protesting any more movement. Ophelia handed her water bottle to Jules, who downed it in seconds.

“It’s just past three now and our dinner reservations are at five,” Jules said, tossing the water bottle in a recycling bin. “So, we have plenty of time to shop.”

“How far is the restaurant from here?”

“Near the end of the strip. To walk back to the car and drive there would take less than five minutes.”

“Awesome.”

“And can I post that photo of us on Instagram?” Jules asked.

“Which one?” Jules playfully shoved Ophelia. “What was that for?”

“Oh, were you not making fun of me for taking lots of pictures again?”

“No,” Ophelia laughed. “I was genuinely asking. Are you just always in defense mode with me now?”

“Can you blame me?” Jules said with raised eyebrows, her eyes firm on Ophelia’s as she smirked. Ophelia mirrored her and hooked her arm around Jules’ to look at the photo Jules had on her screen. It was the one that they took in front of the info board.

“Permission granted,” Ophelia said. “We look so cute here.”

“I’ll post it when we’re in the car. No filter needed.”

“Hashtag humble.”

They reached the large gift shop, still linked together, and were instantly distracted by the ornate display in the window before they could even step inside. Bronze and maroon trinkets covered the other side of the glass, ranging from mugs to mini totem poles to keychains. Jules snapped a photo of the display before they walked in and went their separate ways, absorbed in what to buy.

Jules went for the keychains right away, trying to find the perfect one for Ophelia. After picking one out, she went towards the other souvenirs to find something nice for Kennedy and the rest of her closest sorority sisters.

Ophelia, on the other hand, was walking around aimlessly for about fifteen minutes, hoping the right thing would jump out at her. Thankfully, it did, and once she found something for Jules, she scanned the rack of mini novelty license plates in hopes to find one for Harris. The fog from the burning incense in the corner of the store floated towards her, leaving her to bask in the strong aroma of lavender.

Jules appeared from the other side, both hands occupied. The right was gripping a plastic bag of her purchases.

“You already bought your stuff?” Ophelia asked. Jules only smiled and held out her left hand, a magnet with Harris’ name resting in her palm. Ophelia grinned at the knick-knack that had ‘The Grand Canyon’ written in small cursive below her friend’s name, surrounded by cartoon cacti and reinforced with a sunset background.

“Couldn’t find a license plate one, but-”

“No, this is great,” Ophelia said. “Thank you.” She suddenly cocked her head and looked up to the ceiling, trying to place the familiar melody humming through the store’s speakers. “This song makes Ophelia feel very overwhelmed because it reminds her of the best Black Mirror episode ever.” Jules caught on and smirked.

“What is, ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth?’”

“500 points to Jules. Or is it 500 dollars? I can’t remember how Jeopardy does things right now.”

By the time the chorus came in, they were both harmonizing together in the corner of the gift shop. They broke the duet by laughing soon after.

“Do we have heatstroke?” Jules asked, looking around to catch a stranger eyeing them.

“Most likely,” Ophelia answered. “Let me pay for this and let’s get dinner.”


	9. Time

_ Track 2 on Kidswaste’s “Spleen” album _

The restaurant overlooking the canyon was more beautiful than the pictures Jules looked at had promised. She sat across Ophelia by a window where gray blinds shielded them from the glare of the sun but didn’t completely hide the view. Ophelia played with a loose strand of her green hair as she gazed out, unaware that Jules was staring at her.

The waiter came by to drop off their waters and take their orders. Ophelia got steak and Jules got fettucine.

“The high protein stuff,” the waiter commented. “I’m guessing you two hiked.”

“What gave it away?” Ophelia chuckled. He smiled and turned towards the kitchen.

As Jules sipped her water, Ophelia checked her phone to see an Instagram notification from ten minutes ago. She opened the alert to see that Jules had tagged her in the photo of them. Underneath it was the caption ‘Heaven is a place on earth!’ followed by about six emojis. Ophelia smiled and double-tapped the photo.

Jules’ phone buzzed and she looked up at Ophelia with a smile once she read the notification.

“Kennedy commented ‘cuties,’” Ophelia noticed, leaning in. “She’s right. Especially in your case.” Jules flashed her dimples and looked down before she could catch Ophelia’s brows furrow. She told herself she had to tone down the flirting. Flirting only led to deeper feelings and deeper feelings only led to inevitable rejection.

“Oh, my dad just commented, too,” Jules said, rereading the notification, “‘Hope you kids are having a great time. Enjoy your well-deserved trip.’ And two sun emojis.”

“Your dad is, like, the sweetest man in the world.”

“He is.” Jules smiled, holding her phone to her heart. “I’m going to reply real quick.” After she hit send, she got an email that her stats grade had finally been posted. She quickly opened the window and looked up at Ophelia, who was flattening her napkin on her lap.

“I got a B on my last stats test,” Jules told her.

“Nice! And you hate stats.”

“ _ Hate _ it.”

“Nice,” Ophelia repeated. She quickly looked down again to return to mentally kicking herself for being too careless with her flirting. She couldn’t mess up their friendship. No matter how happy the prospect of calling Jules her girlfriend made Ophelia. She had to rein it in. It was only a recipe for disaster.

Jules felt her face fall as she turned her attention back to her phone. Ophelia wouldn’t ever normally react to good news like that. She bit the inside of her cheek, figuring she might have just been tired. Or irritated with Jules after being with her for so long.

The waiter came around with complimentary bread, which Jules and Ophelia scarfed down in silence, the only thing that could be heard being clattering silverware and the ambient song playing through the restaurant’s speakers. Any worries of ruining their appetites were vanquished once they saw their entrees. The plates let off mouth-watering aromas and thick curls of steam. Jules quietly took a photo of their dinner and they dug in, both troubled by their thoughts of the other.

Later, a group’s cheering tore them away from their meals and they looked over to see the restaurant’s staff being led by a server setting a birthday cake down at a nearby table. They sang happy birthday to a child who was eagerly looking down at the candles on the strawberry-frosted dessert.

“I’m  _ so _ coming here for my birthday,” Ophelia said with her mouth full. Jules glanced over at Ophelia and smiled.

“Hey, I don’t know when your birthday is,” Jules realized.

“November 3rd,” Ophelia answered. “Scorpio.”

“No way you’re a Scorpio. We’re supposed to hate each other.”

“What are you?”

“January 25th. Aquarius.”

“How come we’re supposed to hate each other?” Ophelia asked, pursing her lips.

Jules giggled, fishing out her phone to get Google to back her up. She clicked on the first result under ‘aquarius scorpio compatibility’ and set it on the table.

“‘A Scorpio and an Aquarius are nothing alike,’” Jules read, and took a quick bite of her pasta. “‘The Scorpio is intense and acts on impulse, whereas the Aquarius is balanced and practical. They seem to generally have very little in common. To have a successful relationship, both signs must appreciate and understand each other’s temperaments.’” Jules looked up to see a slack-mouthed Ophelia.

“We really  _ are _ supposed to hate each other.”

“Told you.”

“I want to make sure I’m actually a Scorpio,” Ophelia said, her hand up. “Can you read up on me?”

Jules obliged, and read to Ophelia once she found a good page.

“Qualities or flaws?” Jules asked.

“Hit me with the flaws first.”

“Scorpios are… distrusting and snarky. They hold grudges and are often guided by their tempers.”

“Exposed,” Ophelia said. “But, I see snarky as a good thing.”

“Qualities are that they are intelligent, funny, interesting, honest, supportive. And it says ‘they feel deeply.’”

“Were there actually more qualities or did you just skip a bunch of the flaws?” Ophelia shook her head, amused, when Jules pretended not to hear the question.

“Let’s read about me! ‘The Aquarian is a natural problem solver who loves helping others. They are typically protective, easygoing, trustworthy, and creative.’ Interesting. But it says I can be distant, hard to read, stubborn, insecure, and that I run from emotional expression.” Ophelia smiled, delighted over how excited Jules was.

“How do you feel about that?” she asked after taking her last bite. “Or would you rather not emotionally express it?”

“Do you really hold grudges?” Jules chuckled.

“Oh, yeah.” Ophelia shut her eyes as she nodded. “Still mad at Harris for eating my thin mints, like, a year ago.” The mention of Harris swiftly reminded Jules of the text she’d accidentally seen that morning, and she shuffled in her seat at the fresh memory, eager to dismiss it. “What were your other flaws?” 

“Uh… stubborn and distant.”

“Maybe I haven’t pissed you off enough.” She’d never say it out loud, but Ophelia had definitely seen Jules’ stubborn and distant side. But, honestly, she saw stubborn as strong-willed and distant as, well, not so good at talking about feelings. She studied Jules, who smiled in response. 

Once the waiter picked up their plates and they paid for their bills, both girls made their way out of the restaurant and took one last look at the canyon. It was nearly seven in the evening, and the sun hung behind pink clouds, making the air much cooler.

As Jules tried to soak in the last few moments she’d be appreciating the sight, she found herself holding her hand over her Zeta necklace. She found it weird to think about the fact that if she had never dropped it that night in the alley, she and Ophelia might have never even spoken. And no matter how confusing and awkward things currently were, she’d rather have that than nothing.


	10. The Flame

_ Track 3 on Cheap Trick’s “Lap of Luxury” album _

It only took them twenty minutes to reach the closest Motel 6 in Northern Arizona. Their room provided peach walls, beige sheets, and a clunky stereo. Jules and Ophelia stepped in, grateful for the air conditioning coming through the radiator.

“Did you already call dibs on showering first?” Ophelia asked, carefully placing her backpack on the floor by the far bed, remembering she had Jules’ gift in it.

“Dibs!” Jules shouted.

“Well… I played myself,” Ophelia mumbled. Jules chuckled and quickly rushed to the bathroom after grabbing two towels, pajamas, and what seemed to be about ten different bottles of shampoo, conditioner, cleanser, and body soap.

Ophelia slowly made her way to the stereo that was sitting on a desk across from the beds and started fiddling with the knobs until she found an oldies station. She let the synthy song spill into the room as she curiously turned the stereo around as far as it could go, ignoring her sore legs’ pleas to lie down. As Ophelia charted the various empty channels on the stereo with her fingertips, she swallowed hard. She couldn’t stop thinking about the zodiac article Jules had read to her. The words ‘acts on impulse’ were in her head, flashing like a bright red neon sign.

As Jules lathered the coconut-scented shampoo into her hair a room away, her mind immediately took her to the text she accidentally saw that morning. She sighed to herself, irritated. She wished she hadn’t read it. Everything would be much easier. Because now, when she was finally alone with her thoughts, Jules had to face the same emotions she faced that morning while she was cleaning up their motel room: being with Ophelia made Jules feel something different and new and scary. And if that text was true, if Ophelia really liked Jules that way...

She quickly stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair and her bunny pattern pajamas on to see the back of Ophelia’s disarrayed green hair. Ophelia turned around and quickly perked up her chin.

“Feeling refreshed?”

“What  _ are _ you up to?” Jules laughed, settling on her soft bed and curling her toes on the rug beneath her.

“Tinkering with a fossil,” Ophelia answered, turning the stereo back around to face the beds. “Thought these were obsolete.” Jules chuckled, nodding along to the seemingly antique ballad.

“I picked an oldies station,” Ophelia said. She paced towards her bags, looking down at her feet. “Feel free to change it.”

“No, it’s good.” Jules gazed down at her backpack. “Oh, I brought Uno, by the way.”

“In that case, get ready to get your ass handed to you.” Jules looked over at a smiling Ophelia, who was on her knees as she shuffled through her bags. She then glanced over at the stereo.

“How did your love for electronics even begin?”

“I think I came into this world fluent in binary code, honestly,” Ophelia answered. She looked up at Jules, whose dimples were deep in her cheeks. “It just comes so easy to me.”

“Hacking into people’s phones? I know.” Jules comically rolled her eyes and Ophelia clicked her tongue as she pointed to her temporary roommate.

“It was simple tracking software… and _ I  _ hold grudges? Jeez, you invade somebody’s privacy  _ one time _ .”

“For a good cause, I suppose.”

“Finally you see my side of it.” Ophelia fished out her shampoo and conditioner and playfully tapped Jules’ knee before heading into the bathroom with a smirk.

Jules held her hand on her knee for a second before leaning over to pluck her laptop out of her duffle bag. She lay on her stomach, plugged in her laptop and phone, and connected to the wifi to start looking over the details on the Humanities assignment she had due in two weeks.

Once Ophelia showered, got into the shorts and huge t-shirt she called her pajamas, and dried her hair, she checked the time to see it was nearly 9:30. She lay in bed on her phone and glanced over at Jules, who was typing up a storm and squinting the way she always did when she concentrated.

“You know what I hate?” Jules mumbled.

“Wobbly tables.”

“Having two good points for an essay and not being able to come up with a third. Maybe I need to change my whole thesis.”

“Maybe you need to stop stalling and let me beat you at Uno.” Jules smirked, shutting her laptop and grabbing the boxed deck before bouncing onto Ophelia’s bed. Ophelia placed her phone on their shared nightstand and sat cross-legged across from Jules, who was madly shuffling through the cards.

“We’re playing no mercy mode,” Ophelia stated.

“So, it’s okay if I make you cry.”

“And it’s begun.” They shared a laugh as Jules put the same amount of cards in each of their laps, then placed the deck on the linen bedspread. They were only about ten minutes in when Jules shouted out the coveted ‘Uno,’ which made Ophelia straighten her back and fix her eyes on the girl across from her.

“I’m trying to intimidate you,” Ophelia said through tight lips.

“It’s not working,” Jules answered, smiling with a shake of her head. She kept her stare on Ophelia, absorbing her deep-set hazel eyes. Her heart drummed against her ribcage. 

Ophelia sighed and finally put down a green 8 card after long deliberation, cursing herself for thoughtlessly using her Draw 4 in the second round. Jules looked up and smiled, placing her Wild Card on the deck. Ophelia let out a groan, throwing her cards at Jules, who was laughing.

“I never stood a chance! Where’d you train?”

“Train? Hmm… an elite Uno academy in the Alps.”

“I never stood a chance,” Ophelia repeated, helping Jules pick up cards. “I’m too much of a wreck to play again.”

“Yeah, I’m too tired after that hike. And beating your butt.”

“Speaking of tired!” Ophelia excitedly shoved the cards she’d collected in Jules’ hands before lunging over her to ruffle through her backpack. “I got you a little something.”

Jules packed the cards in their box and tossed it in her bag once Ophelia sat back up. Ophelia held out a crumpled brown paper bag with a small sun doodle on it that was identical to the one Jules got from the gift shop. She swung it to the beat of the Cheap Trick song coming out of the stereo.

“Ah… I got you a little something, too.” Jules dragged her backpack across the floor to the edge of Ophelia’s bed and took out the one meant for her.

“Great minds,” Ophelia said. Jules chuckled and exchanged bags with Ophelia.

“You first,” Jules suggested. Ophelia happily obliged, digging into the bag. She took out a smooth, plastic circular keychain that had the Grand Canyon pictured in the background with the words ‘The Most Remarkable Sight in the World’ sprawled across it in tiny letters. Ophelia threw her head back in laughter and clapped.

“Thomas, this is awesome. And I have to admit, it really  _ was _ the most remarkable. Thank you.”

“The least I could do for all the driving you’ve been doing-”

“Okay, stop unnecessarily praising me and open your gift.” Jules snickered and complied, pulling out a soft pink sleep mask that read ‘I am woman. Hear me snore.’ She let out a loud laugh and pressed the plush gift between her fingers.

“I know it’s not Grand Canyon themed but I-”

“It doesn’t have to be!” Jules said. “This is so thoughtful.”

“I doubt it’s as nice as the Zeta one but I figure this’ll do while you’re away.” Ophelia dug her chin into her shoulder, staring at Jules as she smiled down at her gift.

“I might just replace the Zeta one,” Jules muttered, quickly looking up. “Don’t tell ‘em I said that.” Jules placed the soft mask over her damp blonde hair and rested it over eyes. She smiled big with her eyes covered.

“Fits perfect,” she heard Ophelia say. She felt the bed shift as Ophelia inched closer and gently pulled on the side of the mask. “Any light peeking through?”

“Zero,” Jules answered, blinded, giving Ophelia a chance to stare at her defined lips without running the risk of getting caught. “This is great. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Jules smiled widely as she pushed the gift up to rest on her forehead, grasping just how close she was to Ophelia, whose eyes remained on the sleep mask. Her gaze was fixed on Ophelia for what seemed like ages until Ophelia finally looked down to meet her stare.

“Thank you,” Jules said.

“You already said that.”

They chuckled softly, shoulders bobbing in unison. After a few seconds of shared stillness, Jules felt like she was fluttering even closer to Ophelia, who was closing the small gap between them, too.


	11. Should've Known

_Track 5 on David Mountain’s “Should’ve Known” album_

Ophelia stared, wishing she knew if she was hallucinating or if she really was about to kiss Jules. Or if Jules was about to kiss her. Everything around them felt like it melted away. All it would take was a couple more inches for their lips to touch…

Ophelia gazed into Jules’ blue eyes, feeling her stomach do 100 cartwheels at once.

Her forehead crinkled. She had to get a hold of herself. She screwed up a lot of things in her life thanks to her impulsivity. And her friendship with Jules wasn’t about to be one of them.

She let out a nervous chuckle and abruptly turned to get off the bed to shuffle towards the stereo, resting her hands on the machine to feel just how sweaty her palms were.

“So, can you sleep with music on or should I turn this off?” Ophelia asked. She stared down at her hands, trying to catch her breath.

“Um… I’m fine either way.” Jules’ voice was quiet behind her.

“It gives me weird dreams,” Ophelia mumbled, shutting off the stereo to leave them in complete silence. She then heard the mattress springs roar behind her as Jules moved to her bed. It took all of Ophelia’s strength to turn to face Jules, but when she did, Jules’ head was already on the pillow, facing away from Ophelia.

“Night,” Ophelia said.

“Night.” Jules kept her eyes shut, the sleep mask still on her forehead. She heard the light switch click and the inside of her eyelids darkened. With a lump in her throat, she finally opened her eyes once she heard Ophelia settle in her bed behind her.

What the _heck_? Did she and Ophelia almost just kiss? Whatever just happened somehow happened both in slow motion and all at once and Jules felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. A tense, heavy silence loomed in the room.

She stared ahead at the dark. Whatever those flustered feelings she had for Ophelia were, they made her do things she’d never planned. Like almost kissing the girl she called her best friend.

Her mind drifted to what it would’ve been like if their lips had touched. Jules’ stomach warmed, and she curled her body to bring her knees up closer to her chest. Whatever that was… it didn’t mean anything. It couldn’t have.

Ophelia’s eyes felt warm as she forced away a tear of frustration. What was she _thinking_ almost kissing Jules? Clearly, she wasn’t.

She felt her lips part. She wanted to say something to crack open the silence that filled the room. The first word that came to her head was ‘sorry.’ But wouldn’t that make things worse? Maybe Jules didn’t even think a kiss was about to happen, maybe she was just in close proximity and thinking about… well, whatever goes on in that beautiful brain of hers. And if Ophelia apologized, Jules would ask what for, and then Ophelia would have to explain, ‘well, I was one second away from kissing you and destroying our entire friendship.’

Ophelia sighed quietly, feeling like her breath was caught in her throat. Jules wouldn’t have to ask what the hypothetical ‘sorry’ was for. She knew. Of course she knew. The way they parted and abruptly went to bed said everything. Both of them were fully aware of what almost just happened.

She cocooned herself in the cotton sheets she had already tangled, her heart still tight from the nerves of being so close to Jules. Ophelia had rejected her reckless, impulsive desire before it could will her to kiss Jules, and that was a small victory. But still, it _did_ almost happen. And she couldn’t help but feel that those five seconds had changed everything between them.

Once again, Ophelia awoke to realize that Jules was already up. Her vision focused through squinted eyes to see the blonde in the bed three feet away, sitting up against the wall with her knees bent and her phone in her hands. Rays of sunshine swam past the small opening between the long curtains, washing the room in a soft orange glimmer.

Ophelia blinked and let consciousness slowly grip her. The memory of last night floated in and her muscles grew tense. Her eyes drifted over to the alarm clock on the nightstand. 10:44 a.m. She shifted in her warm sheets, turning a bit and seeing Jules turn her head from the corner of her eye.

“Hey,” Jules said, her voice cheerful. “Sleep well?”

“I dreamt about ‘Cars.’ Not automobiles. Like, the Pixar movie.” Jules let out a laugh and a smile immediately grew on Ophelia’s face, who turned in her bed to stare up at the ceiling.

“Was it a good dream, at least?”

“I’ve never watched that movie,” Ophelia mumbled, dazed. This only made Jules laugh again. “How long have you been up?”

“Maybe 45 minutes.”

“Early bird.”

Jules swallowed hard and looked down at the Pinterest feed on her phone. After a tiring day like yesterday, she normally would’ve slept in late. Maybe even later than Ophelia. But her sleep had been restless, justifiably so.

She went to the restroom to get ready after asking Ophelia if it was cool to ‘call dibs’ again, who said she wouldn’t be getting out of bed for another fifteen minutes anyway.

Jules grabbed her iPod and brushed her teeth quickly, avoiding her reflection. She sighed, reassuring herself that she did a good job sticking to the plan… the plan being acting like nothing happened last night. They were just sleep-deprived and on a travel high. Nothing more than that.

Ophelia eventually sat up and arched her back, letting out a quiet yawn. She studied the bright room, hearing soft clattering coming from around the corner. Jules quickly paced out of the bathroom ten minutes later, her blonde curls swept up in a gust. Her eyes met Ophelia’s and she took out her white earbuds.

“Almost done,” Jules said, quickly looking away to pause the music. Ophelia watched as Jules tucked the strands of hair that had fallen out of her bun behind her ears and ruffled around in her bag.

“No rush. What were you listenin’ to?”

“Some David Mountain.”

“Nice.” Ophelia sighed again and took her in, admiring the baby blue denim dress hugging Jules’ figure and the glossy pink on her lips. “You look pretty.” She froze as soon as the words spilled out of her mouth.

Jules’ head jerked up to look at Ophelia, feeling warmth creep over her cheeks.

“Thanks.” She pulled a small plastic box of hair accessories out of the bag. “I’ll be only two more minutes and the bathroom’s all yours.”

Ophelia only gave her a thumbs up, facepalming the second Jules exited the room. It seemed like she was always involuntarily challenging herself to make awkward things even more awkward. She ran her hand through her tangled hair and felt like the wish for a normal day was unrealistic.


	12. Girl Like Me

_Track 1 on Ladyhawke’s “Anxiety” album_

Jules gazed down at her coffee, her hand cupped around a white mug. She and Ophelia sat in ‘The Tip Top,’ a diner thirty minutes into their journey back to California. The building was situated nearly right behind the town sign that told them their current location held a population of 5000 people.

Their waffles were getting whipped up in the kitchen on the other side of the pastel yellow wall, and Jules looked down at her watch to see that they were having their first meal of the day past noon. Ophelia had her nose in a public newspaper that she picked up by the front doors since they sat down.

“There’s a possible heatwave heading for this town on Sunday,” Ophelia mumbled, hazel eyes peeking over the paper. “Wait, what day is it?”

Jules snickered, coyly looking back down at her coffee.

“Thursday.”

“Okay, we’re good. I have no concept of time right now.”

“I was just thinking that we’re technically having our breakfast in the afternoon, but that it doesn’t even feel like it.”

“The beauty of travelling.”

Jules nodded in agreement. She loved structure, but having a break from it was nice. But then again, she did arrange their every stop.

“I wish I was more spontaneous,” Jules admitted. “Don’t get me wrong. I love planning. But… I don’t know.” Ophelia folded the newspaper, crinkling it loudly.

“You’d rather go with your mood instead of with an itinerary, you mean?"

“Exactly.” Jules bit her bottom lip, appreciating how Ophelia didn’t ask ever her where her random thoughts came from.

“I only know because I’m the complete opposite.” Ophelia snorted. “I get too easily distracted by what I want to do, rather than what I have to do.”

“Seems better.”

“Seems irresponsible.” Ophelia looked down, her face falling as she began to tap her fingertips over the front page.

“You okay?”

“It’s just… I know I’m not really going to face like, dire consequences, you know? I can miss a deadline or not do the reading, but with who my parents are… Darlington looks past it. The only people who actually give me shit sometimes are security.” She half-chuckled. “I know I’m totally lucky. Don’t get me wrong. But I, um, wish I had some pressure or something. When there’s actually pressure, I… bust my ass. You know what I mean?”

Once the words came out of her mouth, Ophelia realized that this was exactly why she was trying to make things with Jules normal again. The thought of losing her was a thousand tons of pressure… she had to be smart. Not reckless. Not irresponsible.

She finally looked up at Jules, whose eyes were warm and inviting.

“You want to earn the things you get.” Jules studied her. “That’s freakin’ awesome. You don’t take stuff for granted. You recognize your opportunities. And being able to work under pressure is, like, super marketable.”

Ophelia chuckled, her eyes sparkling once she cracked a smile.

“Okay, how much do I owe you for that therapy session?”

“Oh, shush.”

Silence fell between them and they stared at each other in the small booth. Ophelia kept her hand on the newspaper, and it took every bit of strength she had not to reach across the table and hold Jules' hand. She thought back to last night, and it seemed like Jules was doing the same, because the blonde quickly cleared her throat and glanced down at her phone.

Ophelia looked out the large windows on the other side of the quiet restaurant. A stretch of empty highway lying in front of a thick array of trees stared back at her, and Ophelia couldn't help but sigh when she considered that their trip was basically over. Sure, they had two days left to split up the seven hour drive back, but at their pace, it felt like Ophelia only had seconds left until she had to go back to real life.

The waitress dropped off their breakfast/lunch, and Ophelia and Jules only shared a few words while eating.

They were soon back in the hot car, blasting a Ladyhawke song that Ophelia particularly loved to listen to when she didn’t want to think. She nodded along to the beat, eventually turning it down to spare Jules’ eardrums.

“What’s the place we’re staying at tonight called again?” Ophelia asked, looking at the time to see they had an estimated two and a half hours left of driving for the day.

“The Porterfield Inn. It’s like, right after the state border.”

“Sounds bougie.”

“I always hate to let you down,” Jules said with a sweet chuckle, “but their rates are super cheap, so don’t expect much.”

“I love being a poor student.” Jules chuckled, looking over at Ophelia’s profile and thinking about what her friend said back at the diner... specifically when she mentioned her parents. Maybe it was just an assumption, but weren’t her parents wealthy, given their reputation at Darlington?

Ophelia glanced over at Jules and seemed to catch onto what Jules was thinking right away.

“I... don’t take money from my parents,” Ophelia stammered, “if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Jules didn’t know what to say.

“Was that... not what you were wondering?” Ophelia spat out an awkward laugh.

“It... was,” Jules admitted, “but I didn’t want to be rude or overstep-”

“You could never be rude.” Ophelia shook her head, looking over at a nervous Jules. “You can ask me anything.”

Her words hung in the air.

“Is it because of what you said before?” Jules asked. “About earning things for yourself?”

“Yeah.” Ophelia gazed at the gray blue highway ahead of them, not having to squint for once as the sun was finally hiding behind a cloud. “I feel like an idiot for it sometimes.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“How many college kids wish that they had a source of money like that? And I’m just saying ‘no’ to it?” Ophelia asked, immediately regretting her tone. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound...”

“You didn’t,” Jules told her. “I get what you mean. I... admire that about you. Honestly.”

Ophelia bit the inside of her cheek and felt a smile grow on her face. Jules wasn’t very used to openly showing affection all the time, and the effort warmed Ophelia’s heart.

“Thanks. Now, come on, make me feel less weird and even the playing field. Tell me about _your_ family.”

“My family?”

“Yeah!” Ophelia shrugged. “I doubt it’s as much of a shit show as mine. Well, I hope it’s not.” Jules quietly chuckled.

“Nothing crazy. It’s just been me and my dad and my brother since I can remember.”

“What’s your brother’s name?”

“Bryson,” Jules answered, remembering Ophelia mentioning that she was an only child. “He’s two years younger.”

“Do you see him a lot?”

“He actually left to the east coast for college in September. But we text. And we have a group chat with my dad.”

“I always have to ask when I hear about group chats: what’s the name of it?”

Jules laughed to herself. She looked out her window, watching the tires of the red truck driving beside them spin.

“Is that an important detail?”

“Now I _gotta_ know.”

“My dad has a fantasy football league and... when he was just getting used to his new phone, he didn’t totally get how group chats worked. So, one morning I woke up to like twenty texts from him about who he was ‘drafting’ and my brother kept replying with things like ‘your team sucks, dude.’ I guess my dad didn’t bother to read the contact name and just kept defending his picks for, like, an hour.”

Ophelia laughed, holding her hand to her chest.

“I feel like I’d like your brother.”

“I think you two would get along,” Jules laughed. “Anyways, I swept in and texted that he was messaging the wrong group. After that, I named the chat ‘NOT the Fantasy Football Guys’ so my brother wouldn’t mess with him again.”

“You’re an angel,” Ophelia said, “but I guess you kind of have to be with a shit-disturbing little brother.”

Ophelia shared a smile with Jules and felt her heart swell with joy. Sure, she and Jules had been talking and orchestrating takedowns for a few months now, but they rarely ever had time to truly get to know each other. To get to know what made them into the people they were.

After last night, she was scared they would never be close again. But now, she knew a little bit more about Jules, and things felt friendly. Ophelia just had to work on making sure she always acted appropriately and treated Jules accordingly.

Jules, on the other hand, couldn’t help but feel that things were way different than before. She glanced over at Ophelia periodically, her eyes usually drifting down to her lips, a reminder of how close she was to them the previous night.

Jules felt an uncontrollable reluctance to share things with Ophelia, which had never happened before. She so badly wanted things to go back to the way they were.

She picked at her fingernails, reminding herself of the plan. Just act like nothing happened.

But everything in her told her that things with Ophelia were way past friendship, and that there was no going back.


	13. Tomorrow

_Track 9 on Coasts’ “This Life” album_

About ten minutes after Jules and Ophelia crossed the state border into California, gray clouds began to roll in and cast a shadow over the busy freeway.

“Good thing we’re stopping soon,” Jules mumbled, pointing to the darkened sky.

“I was just thinking that,” Ophelia said. “Driving in rain fucking terrifies me.”

“You’ve outran cops and physically fought a fair amount of people now.” Jules brushed back her blonde hair, considering just how interesting Ophelia was. “But driving when it’s wet outside terrifies you.”

Ophelia breathed out a chuckle, her smirk fixed.

“It’s a valid fear. Unlike tiny little motel mice.”

Jules thought back to their first night on the road trip and how she crawled into Ophelia’s bed after hearing that eerie squeaking at the ‘Starlight Inn.’ It felt like it was ages ago. She couldn’t imagine being that close to Ophelia again after all that had happened.

“It could have been a rat,” Jules said with a pointed finger. “That bites.”

“We’re going to be in a full blown fight by the time we get back home,” Ophelia said with a shrug.

“Scorpio.” Jules shook her head.

A loud clap of thunder echoed over the rock song buzzing out of the stereo, causing Ophelia to tense up. Jules noticed and referenced her map again.

“Next exit,” she reminded Ophelia.

“Can’t wait. I bet my horoscope says I’ll just barely escape death today.”

“Let’s check!” Jules unlocked her phone and searched, grateful for a distraction. “It says, ‘Hopefully you’re all rested up today, Scorpio, because you’re due to be trusted with some juicy secrets, and keeping them may take a bit more energy that you expect.’”

“Juicy secrets,” Ophelia repeated with a smug nod. “Fess up then, Thomas.”

“Sorry?”

“Who else could be telling me juicy secrets today?”

“It’s only four o’clock. Still plenty of time to hear secrets from plenty of people.” Jules scrolled to find her sign’s horoscope. “Oh, no.”

“What is it?”

“Bad news for Aquarius. ‘You have a hard time deciding where your boundaries lie and remembering that nobody is perfect, including you. Stay realistic today.’”

“I thought I believed in astrology but they just told you that you’re not perfect and that’s a blatant lie.” Jules guffawed at Ophelia’s words, staring down at her screen as butterflies danced in her stomach. “Oh, there’s our exit.”

Ophelia slowly turned the car into the far right lane and merged off the freeway. Small drops of rain began to fall on the windshield as Jules navigated towards their motel.

After they parked and exited the car, Ophelia pointed out a lit up sign outside a bar called ‘Wish You Were Beer’ that advertised half-price wings on Thursday.

“I guess we know where we’re having dinner,” Jules chuckled, grabbing her bags as the rain began to fall harder. She was able to snap a picture of the sign before they ran to check in at the front desk.

Their room was certainly the smallest one they’d stayed at so far, but both girls agreed that it was also the most charming. Even with the trek they had to take up the stairs to get there.

Jules plopped her bags on the bed closest to the door and looked out the large window that took up most of the wall on the other side of the room. White lace curtains wobbled over the stream of air conditioning coming from the register on the floor.

“Penthouse,” Ophelia breathlessly said with an approving nod, walking towards the far bed and looking out the window. “Okay, five floors seems so much higher once you’re actually up here.”

“Yeah?” Jules chuckled. She walked across the coarse burgundy carpet to stand beside Ophelia and look out. The window had a sheet of small, circular raindrops on it, slightly blurring the view of the fairly empty parking lot below them. She quickly found Ophelia’s car, feeling a sense of attachment to it.

Jules aimed her phone at herself and Ophelia, reluctantly leaning a little closer to her friend as she clicked to take a photo. She kept her eyes on herself on the reflective screen, feeling awkward for the first time since that morning.

“Still not outta storage, huh?” Ophelia muttered. Jules laughed, crossing her arms. She took a small step backwards, her eyes quickly darting back and forth between the five-storey view and Ophelia.

Things were irreversibly different, Jules thought. She couldn’t even pose for a picture with Ophelia without having a frog in her throat. She’d stick to acting normal. She had to. Eventually, everything would go back to how it was.

Little did Jules know, as Ophelia stood a few feet away, she was replaying their short conversation about fears in the car and admitting to herself that one of her biggest fears was losing Jules. But Ophelia had a feeling that as soon as they were back to their lives, she would unwillingly and uncontrollably distance herself from Jules, like she did with anybody any time she fell for them.

Because leaving had always been easier than being left.

“You wanna go get food now?” Jules asked, looking to the nightstand to see that it was almost 5 o’clock, even though it looked like it was much later outside.

“Sure.”

Jules decided to step outside to get some fresh air while Ophelia got ready. She stood beneath a chipping white awning and scrolled through the photos she’d taken, swallowing hard once she came across the one she posted of herself and Ophelia at the Grand Canyon. They both looked so undeniably happy, Jules observed, and she thought that if she could relive anything, it’d be that moment.

Her heart felt like it skipped a beat once her friend skittered down the steep steps, her green hair flying past her shoulders. Ophelia had changed into dark jeans, a billowing gray baseball tee, and a fitted leather jacket.

“I look okay?” Ophelia asked, shaking out her sleeves.

“Yes.” Jules grinned. “I figure we can just walk over.”

“Sounds good.”

The rain seemed to be barely drizzling from underneath the marquee, but as soon as the two of them stepped out into the parking lot, they realized it was coming down much harder than they thought. Ophelia cussed, mindlessly taking Jules’ hand as they jogged through the lot and towards the bar.

As they entered the small but crowded establishment, Ophelia quickly let go of Jules’ hand and stuffed her fists into her jacket pockets, then led the way once she spotted two free bar stools.

They sat, eyes exploring their dark, cluttered environment. Jules’ stare settled on the television mounted above the bar to see that the Dodgers were playing. She smiled to herself, sure that her father was watching it a few hundred miles away.

“What can I get you girls?” the long-haired bartender asked as he wiped the counter in front of them.

“Two plates of those half-price wings, please.” Ophelia replied, drumming her hands on her knees.

“Barbecue?”

“Sounds good,” Ophelia said, looking over at Jules. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Jules answered. The bartender nodded quickly and stepped to the side to tap on a computer screen. Her attention went back to the television as she interlaced her fingers, watching as the camera zoomed in on a pitcher.

It took a substantial amount of time to get their dinner, but once they had their plates of food in front of them, any bitterness over the long wait dissipated. By that time, Jules and Ophelia had gotten quite into the baseball game, and Ophelia was grateful to have Jules explain what exactly was going on to her.

“So, they’re not called points, then?” Ophelia asked, leaning closer to Jules as she stared ahead.

“Right.”

“They’re called runs,” Ophelia established.

“Yes.”

“Has half-time already passed yet?”

“There’s no half-time,” Jules half-shouted over the rowdy customers.

“No points, no half-time,” Ophelia sighed. “It’s so complicated. I’m tired.”

Jules laughed, shaking her head and taking a quick photo of Ophelia, who snarled back at the camera with a sauce-covered pout.

Just then, Ophelia felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She wiped her hands on the crumpled napkin she’d already used a million times and pulled her phone out to see a text from Harris.

“Oh, Harris texted me,” she said quietly, earning a nod from Jules. Ophelia opened the notification and read the message.

‘So……. are you two dating yet?’

Ophelia coughed hard enough that her phone slid out of her loose grasp. She gasped loudly, and Jules bent and quickly caught the phone before it hit the floor. Ophelia swallowed hard, anxious that Jules would see the message.

“Give it back,” Ophelia harshly snapped. “Now.”

Guilt filled Ophelia as soon as the words came out of her mouth. She saw Jules’ forehead crinkle in confusion before she gave her phone back.

Jules didn’t know if it was Ophelia’s sudden rudeness, or the emotional rollercoaster she’d been on the past few days, or a combination of both, but she retorted without thinking.

“I already know what you guys say about me.”

Jules prayed that she had just hallucinated saying that, but Ophelia’s widened eyes and rigid posture proved that the can-of-worms utterance had really just spilled out of her mouth.

“What are you talking about?” Ophelia’s voice had a touch of anguish to it. Jules shook her head, faking a chuckle.

“Nothing, nothing.” She looked down to the mess of balled up napkins on the counter top. “We- we really need more napkins.”

Jules helplessly looked around and leaned away from Ophelia to take a few napkins from a stack by the beer taps. She mindlessly glanced up to the other side of the bar, mind racing. That’s when her stomach dropped.

She sat back and looked over at Ophelia with pinched eyebrows.

“Jules, what did you-”

“Ophelia,” she sternly said.

“What?” Ophelia’s hazel eyes searched Jules’ face. Jules shook her head, her blood feeling like it was rushing through her in hot waves.

“I just saw that guy over there…” Jules took a deep breath in. “I just saw him slip something in his date’s drink.”


	14. Hit and Run

_ Single by LOLO _

Jules felt her teeth grinding and her hands balling into fists as she stared at the bearded man at the other end of the bar, who was surveying the crowded drinkery with beady eyes. She glanced back over at Ophelia, who looked like she wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure what that something was.

“Are you…” Ophelia shook her head quickly, “of course you’re sure. What- what do we do?”

Jules only stammered, her head snapping back in the man’s direction. She looked down at the cherry colored drink he’d just contaminated. She had no time to question herself. No time to consider if she’d imagined seeing him pour powder in the glass. It happened and every second that passed was a second wasted. The woman he was with would probably return soon. They had to act fast.

“We have to get him somewhere,” Jules said, turning back to Ophelia and thinking. “The restroom. I was just in there. It’s not one of those stalled ones; it’s just a single room. But we have to make sure that his date doesn’t drink any of that.”

“Okay, okay.” Ophelia nodded, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and fidgeting in her seat. “I- I can go find her-”

“Yes, yes, good idea,” Jules said, her breath caught in her throat. “Stop her and warn her. I’m… I’m going to get him in the restroom. You warn her, and I’ll get him back there.”

Right as she finished her sentence, Jules saw the blonde-haired woman that she recalled seeing with him. She was coming down the small clearing in the bar, about to pass them.

“That’s her,” Jules quickly said.

Ophelia turned and held out her hand, stopping the woman in her tracks.

“Hello- hi. I’m… sorry to bug you, but can I talk to you?”

“Pardon?” The woman raised her eyebrow.

“I- um, can I please, please borrow your phone? I’m not from around here and I need to make a call. It’ll be really quick-”

“Oh, sure,” the stranger kindly said.

“It’s super loud in here. Can we step out?”

“Yeah,” she answered. Ophelia gave Jules a quick nod before putting $20 under her plate for their dinner and taking both their bags. She leaned closer to Jules before she left.

“I’ll explain to her outside,” Ophelia mumbled. “Go.”

Jules’ eyes narrowed. She kept her eyes on the man as she stood and urgently stormed towards him. Jules watched as his date, who was walking in front of Ophelia, signalled to him that she’d be back. He shook his head in frustration at her. Jules felt her rage bubbling at the pit of her stomach as she approached him.

“Hi, sorry to bother you,” she said in a sweet voice, “but you look strong and the restroom door is stuck and I left my bag in there. I already asked the staff here; they just said it gets stuck sometimes and needs a good shove. They won’t help me.”

“Run along and find someone else.”

“Please?” Jules felt sick just speaking to him. “As soon as I get my bag back, I’ll buy you as many beers as you want. I promise.” She forced a chuckle and smiled. The man looked irritated, and Jules was surprised when he actually stood.

She swallowed hard, hoping that the room was unoccupied. Either way, she’d find a way to make this guy regret doing such a vile thing.

They approached the back of the bar to find that the women’s restroom door was closed. Jules looked over at the bearded man, recognizing that he was about a foot taller than her. His forehead creased and he stepped forward, turning the knob and easily opening the door.

“Are you that weak?” he muttered, annoyed.

“Do you see that?” Jules quietly asked, pointing past the door. The second the man looked ahead, Jules used all her strength to push him into the small room. He fell to the tiled floor and coiled with a grunt, giving Jules a split second to step inside and close the door behind them.

The man was down on his hands and knees about to stand up.

“What the fuck is the matter with-” Jules heaved a hard, sharp kick to his ribs, making him cut his own question short with a cry. She went for another, but he hurriedly grabbed her leg and pulled her to the ground.

Jules felt a hard strike to her cheek once the man was braced above her, but she was quick to clamp her arms around his frame and gain some footing. She hooked around over his shoulder and groaned as she jolted up with all her might to turn him on his back.

Once she had him underneath her, Jules rained down with quick, hard punches to his face, her fists hot with pain. She saw a movement in the corner of her eye and looked up only quick enough to see that it was Ophelia, her eyes wide as she immediately shut and locked the door behind her.

“Help me, this bitch is crazy!” the man shouted over the muffled crowd and music.

“Don’t call her that, asshole,” Ophelia snarled. Jules put all her weight on the man, her knee on his chest, as she stared at him with fury and disgust.

“I saw you,” Jules muttered. “I saw you slip something in that drink.”

“What? I didn’t-” Jules pressed harder, her knee digging into his chest as he groaned.

“I. Saw. You,” Jules said. Ophelia watched over, ready to strike in case she needed to.

“It wasn’t- it was just-”

“What did you put in there?” Jules demanded.

“She just needed something to loosen up! It was just for a fun time-”

Jules drove a fist into his throat, making him cough hard. He shut his eyes as he hacked, his arms pinned under Jules’ legs.

“You tried to drug her,” Jules spat out. “You planned to assault her.”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” he sobbed.

“If you ever do anything like this again, a couple of bruised ribs and a black eye will be  _ nothing _ . I will find you.”

The man nodded quickly, breathing shallow. Jules stood, her adrenaline screaming at her to get out of there. He lay on the ground, face covered in blood as he panted.

Jules dug into his back pocket to grab his wallet. She pulled out his driver’s license and read every word over and over again, committing it to memory.

“We know where you live, Aaron Levert,” Jules muttered, “and we’ll be at your door if you ever try to do this again.”

“I won’t, I promise,” he breathed. Jules gave him one last look of disgust, then turned to look at Ophelia, who was giving him the same evil eye.

“We need to get out of here,” Jules whispered, realizing just how naked she felt without her vigilante disguise. Ophelia handed Jules her bag, unlocked the door, and slipped out into the loud bar. They kept their heads down as they quickly walked through the crowds and onto the street. Jules’ cheek still burned with pain as the evening air and cold rain pressed against her skin.

They scurried down the sidewalk and into the motel parking lot, both their minds racing.

“That lady thanked me a million times and called her sister to come pick her up,” Ophelia said. “I watched her get in the car. She’s safe now.”

Jules nodded to Ophelia and made her way towards the motel, eager to finally get into a safe, quiet room. She gripped the wet banister and started climbing the steps, panting wildly.

Ophelia was following close behind. That is, until she slipped.


	15. The Strange and the Kind

_ Track 3 on Surf Curse’s “Nothing Yet” album _

“Shit!” Ophelia gripped her shin, sitting on the steps as the cold metal pressed against her body.

“Oh, my gosh,” Jules exclaimed, a flood of uneasiness filling her chest. She crouched down, grabbing for Ophelia’s hand. She was perched a few inches from her face, glancing down as Ophelia held her leg in the moonlight.

“Shit,” Ophelia repeated, this time with a chuckle. “God, of course it’s in the spot I already had that scratch, remember?”

Jules’ worry kept her from finding any humor in the situation. She thought back to when Ophelia scraped herself on their Grand Canyon hike, and studied Ophelia’s face.

“How’s it feel?”

“Numb,” Ophelia answered, “I think my whole body’s shocked at what an idiot I am and is kind of delaying the whole pain part.”

“Can you walk?”

Ophelia nodded.

“Come on,” Jules said, pulling Ophelia up. “We should get out of the rain.” Ophelia felt Jules’ arm tight around her waist as her friend slowly mounted the steps. Ophelia winced, feeling the sharp ache begin to flow through her leg.

She draped her arm around Jules’ shoulders, cursing the fact that their room was on the top floor. All Ophelia could hear was their heavy breathing and the pitter-patter of autumn rain as they mounted the steps.

Once they reached their room, Jules fished the keys out of her purse and opened the door. She searched for the light as Ophelia limped in, dropping to sit on Jules’ bed and throwing her head back.

Light filled the room and Jules shut the door, rushing over to the edge of the bed to sit on the floor and begin to roll up Ophelia’s pant leg. Jules noticed a deep red stain on the blue denim. Ophelia’s vision focused on Jules and a gasp escaped her lips.

“Crud, sorry, did I hurt you?” Jules sharply pulled her hands to her chest.

“Jules, your cheek.” Ophelia spoke with quiet gravity, staring at the light purple splotch on Jules’ left cheekbone.

“It’s okay,” Jules answered. “It doesn’t feel that bad. Probably just a bruise. I’ll put ice on it later.”

Ophelia sputtered a laugh.

“What?” A small smile grew on Jules’ face.

“This is just… funny to me,” Ophelia said. “We try to go on a fun trip and we  _ still _ end up wounded.” Jules chuckled.

“At least it feels like old times.” Jules turned her attention back to Ophelia’s leg, pulling up her stained jeans to reveal a scrape.

“Ouch,” Jules whispered.

“I don’t wanna look at it,” Ophelia muttered. “Is it bad? Is it really bad?”

“It’s not… terrible,” Jules said, “I don’t think your jeans ripped, so no bacteria could have gotten in but let’s wash this out and make sure it doesn’t get infected. ”

“Before we do, don’t you want to take a picture? For memories?” Ophelia joked. Jules’ eyes went wide.

“What?” Ophelia asked. “ _ I  _ thought it was funny.”

“I think I left my phone in the bar,” Jules muttered, head shaking. “I definitely didn’t see it in my bag and I don’t have pockets.” Ophelia gasped, propping her arms up to help push herself off the bed.

“Let’s go,” Ophelia insisted.

“No, no.” Jules waved her hands in the air and stopped Ophelia, who sunk back in the bed. “That can wait.”

“Jules, are you serious-”

“Let’s clean this up first,” Jules interrupted her, leaning back to grab her backpack. “I have gloves and rubbing alcohol and some bandages.”

“Is it that bad?” Ophelia asked, finally gaining the courage to hunch over and look at the new scrape atop the old one. “Come on, I can walk. We need to go get your phone-”

“Ophelia,” Jules stated, her blue eyes steely. “We’ll get it later.”

She put up her hands in surrender and flattened her lips.

“I’m sorry,” Jules mumbled, staring down as she zipped open her backpack and looked for the supplies. “I’m worried about you, okay? I just want to make sure this is cleaned up. I… care about you. A lot.”

Ophelia swallowed hard, feeling herself pull back. She’d normally return the affection or make a joke or say  _ something, _ but the weight of everything that had happened in the past few days stubbornly settled on her chest. She stared down at Jules, her golden hair knotted and damp, and chewed on her bottom lip.

Jules began to clean up the wound as the two of them remained silent, the only sounds filling the room being the ticking clock on the nightstand and the drizzling rain outside. The cool rubbing alcohol gave Ophelia some relief, but it only lasted a couple of seconds before it started to sting.

“Jules, if someone takes your phone-”

“Ophelia,” Jules said, finally looking up to meet eyes with her. She had one hand holding the cloth on Ophelia’s cut and the other gripping Ophelia’s ankle. “It’s just a phone. You’re my priority now, okay?”

Ophelia searched Jules’ face, her eyes settling on her lips. Jules looked back down, patting the cotton pad over Ophelia’s injury.

Ophelia felt a frown form on her face as she reflected on Jules’ words… they were all coming from a platonic place, Ophelia bittersweetly realized, and she felt disappointed in herself that she couldn’t just be happy that Jules valued her as a friend. Ophelia tried to convince herself to be positive, but there was no way to do so when she knew that the girl she loved would never love her back.

“Thank you,” Ophelia finally mumbled. “You’re really brave, just so you know.”

“Brave?” Jules echoed with a skeptical chuckle.

“Yeah. Tonight, you saw something bad happen and you acted right away. You took on that guy and he was, like, three times your size.”

“Oh.” Jules sucked her teeth. Brave was the last word to describe her, she thought. She’d done nothing but been a complete chicken the entire trip. She dismissed her feelings and kept them a secret from both herself and Ophelia. Throwing punches and taking a hit wasn’t brave, Jules felt. Being open and honest was. And she couldn’t remember the last time she’d done that.

Jules stuck two bandages on the wound and pulled off her gloves, looking at Ophelia’s shin with a glimmer of pride.

“Looks good,” Jules said. “Do you want a Tylenol?”

“Gosh, you have everything,” Ophelia sighed. “Yes, please.”

Jules zipped open a pouch where she kept her tablets and giggled.

“What’s funny?” Ophelia asked.

“You just said ‘gosh,’” Jules answered, looking up at Ophelia with an amused expression. Ophelia rolled her eyes and laughed.

“I’ve spent too much time with you.”

“Clearly.” Jules handed her the small bottle of painkillers and Ophelia swallowed one, immediately standing up despite her aching shin.

“Okay, let’s go find your phone.” 

As they made their way down the empty stairway, where Ophelia gripped onto the banister with every step, Jules felt for the tender spot on her cheek and considered just how strange the night had turned out.

She wondered what other curveballs her life had left to throw at her.


	16. Tangled Memories

_Track 8 on GEMS’ “Kill The One You Love” album_

Once Ophelia convinced Jules to wait outside the bar, she went straight to the bartender to ask if anybody had turned in a phone. He told her nobody had, but to Ophelia’s relief, she soon found Jules’ phone face down under the stool she was sitting on earlier.

Ophelia turned it over to reveal a crack dividing the screen. She winced and held the phone close as she exited the bar and found Jules, arms crossed and brows furrowed behind a crowd of smokers.

“The screen cracked,” Ophelia told her with a frown, handing the phone to Jules, “but at least we found it.”

“Thank you.” The cold air reddened Jules’ cheeks, slightly masking the fresh bruise. She looked up at the darkened sky and the neon lights from the bar sign buzzed above her.

“I think it’s safe to say we’re calling it a night?” Ophelia quipped. Jules exhaled and gave her a quick nod, checking her phone to see that it was just past 8 before shoving it into her purse.

They turned and strolled away from the bar, hoping they’d never have to return to it again.

Ophelia felt for her own phone in her pocket, thinking back to their sharp exchange before their unplanned takedown. Jules saying ‘I already know what you guys say about me’ replayed over and over in her head. What was she talking about? She stared down at the black concrete, mulling over the words. Her shin throbbed with every step.

Jules noticed her staggered strides and reached to steady Ophelia, but stopped herself.

“Does it hurt?”

“Yeah,” Ophelia admitted.

“You’re crazy,” Jules chuckled. “Why were you so determined to find my phone when you can barely walk?”

“There are so many pictures of us on there,” Ophelia timidly answered, tiredly pointing in Jules’ direction. “Can’t get those back, you know?”

Jules nodded, her smile quickly disappearing once she took in Ophelia’s sullen demeanor. She was acting as if this was the very last time they’d ever hang out. As if the photos on Jules’ phone were soon to be distant memories of the beginning of the end.

Her heart pounded and her mind raced. She was sure Ophelia didn’t want anything to do with her once they went back to their regular lives. The familiar ache of abandonment burned in her chest and the cold raindrops falling on her shoulders made her crave soft bed sheets and unconsciousness.

They made it to their room and quietly changed from their wet clothes into their pajamas, awkwardly standing at their own corners of the space and not looking up.

Jules eventually sank into her bed, pulling the cotton sheets over her legs and inspecting the crack on her phone. She’d already begun planning when she could get it repaired within the next week when Ophelia sat on the edge of her own bed and scratched the back of her neck.

“What are you gonna do about…” Ophelia began, pointing to Jules’ cheek.

“Oh, yeah,” Jules said, a nervous chuckle escaping her lips. “I totally forgot about that.”

“I guess that’s kind of a good thing?” Ophelia said. “I hope it means it doesn’t hurt.”

“It doesn’t.” Jules thought back to all the late nights she had spent in her room at the sorority house, nursing major bruises and nasty scratches. “And I’ve definitely had way worse.”

She turned to her backpack to search for an instant cold pack as she heard Ophelia clap her hands once behind her.

“Let me know if I can help,” Ophelia mumbled.

“I will, thanks.”

Yet another awkward silence taunted them, but it was soon muffled by the sound of the television that was mounted on the wall across the room.

“Ooh, a home reno show,” Ophelia said, focusing on the screen displaying a man breaking down a wall with a mallet. “You down?”

“Sure, anything’s fine,” Jules replied, meeting her friend’s hazel eyes for another quick second. Ophelia looked away, shuffling to her bed in her over-sized pajamas and settling on her stomach.

Jules quickly found the ice pack and crushed it to activate the alleviating cold.

“This is a bit risky,” the man on the television narrated, “but we’re deciding to adding a powder bath just off the mudroom.”

Jules couldn’t help but smile to herself when she noticed Ophelia nod her green head in concentration to the television. She almost pointed it out, but once again, froze.

That was all she’d been doing, Jules thought. Freezing. Hesitating. Stopping herself from doing what she wanted, always in the last minute.

_What’d you do right now if you knew you wouldn’t freeze?_ Jules shook away the thought like she’d dismissed all the others she had about her and Ophelia, but this one felt particularly hard to get rid of.

She sighed to herself, the ice pack pressed up to her face, and unlocked her phone again.

“I’m setting an alarm for 9:30 tomorrow,” Jules spoke, her voice thin, “and that way, we’d get back to Darlington around noon. Is that okay?”

Jules quickly picked up on how they’d been walking on eggshells with each other, and she wondered if Ophelia had noticed it, too.

She had.

“Yup, sounds good,” Ophelia answered, shooting Jules a quick glance before turning her attention back to the television.

Reality sank in and Ophelia realized that in less than 24 hours, she’d be back home with nothing but the memories of their simultaneously amazing/terrible road trip left to keep her company. _I already know what you guys say about me._ Jules’ words danced in her head, refusing to go away.

Ophelia wanted to say something.

So did Jules.

But instead, Ophelia kept her attention on the TV while Jules put in her earbuds to listen to a song that was all too applicable to her current situation.

“Goodnight,” Jules said over the music. She couldn’t handle another dose of those deep hazel eyes, so she quickly turned in her bed and rested her head on her pillow. Guilt and tension consumed her as her brain replayed the events of their night. She fell asleep regretting the way she snapped at Ophelia at the bar.

Ophelia soon relocated to the floor, where she sat cross-legged in front of the television and kept the volume at two to make sure she didn’t disturb Jules. She finished the home reno episode, then watched a show about animal rescue, then finally decided to go bed once she was nodding off at a show about cake design.

The next morning, Ophelia woke up before Jules for the first time on their trip. Her first thought, for whatever reason, was the way Jules took care of her the night before. The way Jules referred to Ophelia as her priority launched her pulse into a faster tempo.

She heard Jules’ light snores from the other side of the room as she turned to check that it was 9:20. Ophelia turned to lie on her stomach, her shin slightly stinging against the white fitted sheet below her.

She couldn’t distance herself from Jules. No matter how much the cautious part of her brain told her it was the smartest thing to do. She was totally aware that she was in love with her, but she could keep it under wraps because she needed Jules, and Ophelia had a feeling that Jules needed her, too.

Soon enough, the alarm went off, and Jules shuffled around in bed before finally shutting it off. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and looked over at Ophelia with a half-smile. As Ophelia stared at Jules’ adorable state of fatigue, she realized that “keeping it under wraps” would be much harder than she thought. But it was all undoubtedly worth it.

“Morning,” Jules sighed, redoing her ponytail. “I’m not ready to go back.”

Ophelia agreed.


	17. Passenger Side

_ Track 4 on Smallpools’ “The Science of Letting Go” album _

Jules and Ophelia settled in their seats, the car’s interior warm despite spending the night in the cold rain. Ophelia turned on the ignition, and Jules took a quick photo of the front of the motel before they sped out of the parking lot.

Jules quickly narrated their route, then went back up to the top of the list to guide Ophelia through every turn.

“Three hours, right?” Ophelia asked. She knew the answer already. She just wanted an excuse to talk to Jules.

“Right,” Jules answered. “Well, technically three hours and eight minutes.”

“Oh, man. I only have enough gas for exactly three hours.”

“Dang it.” Jules shook her head at Ophelia’s lame joke. “I can’t believe it’s over. That went by so fast.”

“It did.”

The girls sat in silence as the morning sun lit the way. Jules looked out her window, her fingers interlaced, and felt a heavy tension between her and Ophelia. The a/c wasn’t working again but Ophelia wasn’t about to risk opening her unreliable window.

She sighed.

“What was your favorite part?” Ophelia asked. She bit her tongue immediately. She hoped Jules wasn’t reminded of their almost-kiss like she was. Ophelia admitted that it was probably her favorite memory of the trip, even though it screwed up so much between them.

“The meal after that hike,” Jules answered stiffly. “The view in that restaurant was so nice and the food was  _ so  _ good.”

“Nice.” Ophelia looked over at Jules, who was scrolling through her phone.

“You?”

Ophelia felt like Jules was asking only because it was expected, and not because she actually cared.

“I’ll get back to you on that,” she replied.

The tension in the car only grew thicker, and Ophelia found herself wishing the trip would go by faster for the first time since it began. But, of course, ten minutes of silence and rigidity and awkwardness had felt like two hours.

“Thomas,” Ophelia mumbled, her tone coming out much less courageous than she had hoped. “I really value our friendship and maybe I’m just paranoid but I feel like things are weird between us. And… I don’t like it.” She let out a tense chuckle.

Jules could hear her own heartbeat.

“I love you and... I hope we’re good. Are we good?” Ophelia glanced over, relieved she could get those three words out, even if they came out in the context of friendship. Jules scratched her eyebrow with a pink glittery fingernail and nodded quickly.

“Can we…” Jules looked ahead, pointing at an empty lot coming up to their right. “Can you pull over here?”

“Sure,” Ophelia said, her heart stinging over the fact that Jules wasn’t returning even a bit of the affection. She pulled the car into the lot and studied the deserted rest stop it was surrounding.

“I’m sorry about last night,” Jules mumbled, pivoting in her seat to face Ophelia but looking down.

“Last night?” Ophelia cocked her head and turned off the ignition.

“Um, at the… bar.” Jules realized this was going to be much harder than she expected. “When I kind of… snapped at you.”

“Well, I snapped first,” Ophelia chuckled.

“Let me…” Jules’ words were quiet and jumbled. “I said I knew what Harris… what you and Harris say about me.”

Ophelia stared, hoping Jules’ eyes would finally meet hers. Jules held her gaze on her lap.

“Um, a little while ago… I accidentally saw your texts with him and saw that he called me your crush.”

“Oh.”

“I’m really sorry. I honestly didn’t mean to snoop or anything. It was an accident. But, that’s what I meant by that and…” She exhaled deeply, finally looking up to meet Ophelia’s hazel eyes. Ophelia’s lips were curved into a frown.

“I’m sorry,” Ophelia said. “That’s his... definition of a joke. You must have been so freaked out-”

“Freaked out?” Jules echoed.

“Yeah. Like, being under the impression that I  _ liked _ you and probably feeling so weirded out by that.” Ophelia almost said she wished Jules would’ve explained this earlier, but decided against it. This seemed hard enough as it was.

“I wasn’t… freaked out by you,” Jules admitted. Ophelia searched her friend’s face, feeling her forehead crinkle.

“You weren’t?”

“No. I was only really… freaked out over…”

Ophelia patiently observed Jules. Her thick lashes fluttered as she looked in every direction but Ophelia’s.

“I…” Jules exhaled slowly, glancing through the windshield to see the old, empty building that served as a gas station however long ago. “I didn’t really know, or I still don’t really know how to deal with my feelings about you.”

“What?” Ophelia shook her head, feeling like she was looking at a jigsaw puzzle.

“We almost kissed,” Jules said quietly, an awkward smile on her face.

“We are… really doing this, huh?” Ophelia snorted, nervously shuffling her feet by her pedals. “Okay, yeah, we’re doing this.”

Jules couldn’t help but laugh, her blue eyes twinkling.

“For once, yeah, I’m actually… facing reality. You’re right. Things  _ are  _ weird between us. And I think… well, I  _ know _ it’s because… I have feelings for you. More than friendship and I never… well, you’re a girl and I...” Jules swallowed the lump in her throat.

There.

She finally revealed it.

To herself.

And to Ophelia, who was looking at Jules with parted lips and wide eyes.

“You call me brave all the time,” Jules went on, “but honestly, I’m such a wuss. I… almost didn’t say anything and-”

“I’m so glad you did.” Ophelia nodded. “I’m… okay, that text wasn’t a joke.”

Jules felt joy bubbling up inside her. A weird, wonderful, totally unexpected joy. She shyly smiled at the girl across from her, who was smiling back. She was afraid she’d wake up and everything that had just happened was all a dream.

Ophelia’s eyes were on Jules’ lips, and Jules could tell. Time stopped like it did the last time they were in this position. Ophelia began to lean forward, but was abruptly held back by the strap of her seatbelt. She looked down in embarrassment and Jules laughed, releasing her own seatbelt and then leaning forward to hover by Ophelia’s face.

Kissing Jules Thomas was nothing compared to Ophelia’s daydreams. It was more wonderful and astonishing and spellbinding than she could have ever imagined. Jules’ soft lips pressed against Ophelia’s, giving Ophelia the chance to completely take her in and let Jules overtake every one of her senses.

Ophelia was warm and felt much more delicate than Jules would’ve thought. Her enthusiastic caress made Jules’ body feel like it was weightless, like her every particle was numb. Jules melted into their kiss, making her realize that every nanosecond of worrying and agonizing and finally confessing everything was so totally worth it.

They pulled apart, hearts in frenzy.

“Well,” Ophelia said, her voice thick. “Took us long enough.”

Jules giggled, reaching for Ophelia’s hand to hold it tight. Ophelia squeezed, gazing into Jules’ eyes as if she’d never get the chance to again.

They laughed together in the old car that was crookedly parked in a dusty and closed down rest stop parking lot. And everything was perfect.


	18. Infinity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic was an absolute joy to write and I have @unstablescribbles to thank for that; your insights and editing were so greatly appreciated. Also, a huge thank you to my readers and fellow Juphelia shippers. Sweet/Vicious didn't get the ending it deserved, but thanks to this community and those who supported me, the characters will live on in my heart forever.

_ Track 12 on Jaymes Young’s “Feel Something” album _

Jules sat atop her bed, her familiar memory foam and breezy blue sheets hugging her with comfort. Her eyes travelled over the scattered mess of papers and markers and stickers sprawled over the mattress, and she was too absorbed to hear the knock on her bedroom door.

The door squeaked as it opened, and Jules looked up quickly to see Kennedy’s smiling face.

“Visitor,” she said.

Jules grinned once Ophelia popped her head into the room behind Kennedy.

“I’m sorry,” Jules said. “I got too into this.”

“Sounds like you,” Ophelia teased, sauntering into the room and settling beside Jules.

“You two are so cute,” Kennedy said quickly, even though she’d said it to Jules a hundred times. “It was about time, honestly.”

“That’s what I said!” Ophelia boasted. Kennedy chuckled before she shut the door and left them alone.

“You invited me over to organize supplies?” Ophelia asked, barely glancing at the clutter. Jules smirked, completely lost once Ophelia softly held her cheek and kissed her.

Ophelia turned her attention to the mess, settling comfortably in the way Jules’ bedroom always smelled like laundry detergent. She saw an open album  surrounded by photos from their trip: the two of them posing with Starbucks in their hands, Ophelia doodling a crayon masterpiece, the Arizona sunset offering a beautiful view. All scattered about and waiting to get glued into the scrapbook.

“Whoa…” Ophelia grinned as she turned the page to see that Jules had already decorated and pasted a bunch of stickers and photos. “We just got back two days ago! How’d you manage…”

Ophelia lost her words once her eyes landed on a particular page. The top left corner held a map of the west coast that Jules had traced in with red marker.

“That was our route?” Ophelia mumbled, following the thin red line. Jules hummed in response.

Under the map was their first photo at the Grand Canyon, a picture of happiness and mutual cluelessness. Ophelia smiled to herself, unable to comprehend just how much had changed since that day.

“I’m worried all my photos won’t fit,” Jules said.

“You’ll find a way,” Ophelia assured. “This is awesome, Thomas.”

“You think?” Jules rested her hand on Ophelia’s knee, leaning closer to her as they flipped through the half-done scrapbook.

“Will I get a copy?” Ophelia asked.

“No, you complained  _ way  _ too much about me talking photos.” Ophelia gasped at Jules, who shook her head with sarcastic rashness. “But I bet now you’re glad I was so annoying.”

“You could never be annoying,” Ophelia quickly affirmed. Jules chuckled, bashfully flashing her dimples.

Ophelia planted a kiss on the tip of Jules’ nose and looked back at the scrapbook. She pointed to a plastic sheet of Grand Canyon themed stickers sitting beside the album.

“Where’d you find these?” Ophelia asked.

“Craft store.”

Ophelia picked the sheet up and looked through the stickers, some with the words ‘Grand Canyon’ on them, some with drawn pictures of mountains and cacti, and some with both. She chuckled once she saw a few stickers of birds, remembering Jules' fascination with them.

“Too bad they don’t have a ‘I went to the Grand Canyon and all I got was this lousy girlfriend’ sticker. That would look so good on the first page.”

Jules threw her head back in laughter, knocking the stickers out of Ophelia’s hand.

“Girlfriend, hm?” Jules questioned.

Ophelia’s self-satisfied smirk quickly disappeared as she turned pink.

“Shit, did I forget to ask you to be my girlfriend?” Ophelia asked. 

“I guess you did, somewhere in all the chaos.”

Jules stared at a flustered Ophelia, studying her freckles and eyes and beauty spots and lips. She assumed it was clear they were girlfriends, based on their drive back to Darlington where they basically held hands the entire time. And based on the next morning, when they went to breakfast, even though they’d been together the past four days. And based on all the kisses they’d been sharing.

“What do you say then?” Ophelia cockily nodded her head and pointed to herself.

Jules laughed. Ophelia reached for her hand, softly rubbing her thumb over the back of Jules’ hand and basking in the melody of her chuckling.

“I accept. I guess,” Jules teased with a happy shrug. “Let me be a good girlfriend and take you out to lunch, then.”

“I can drive,” Ophelia suggested, “not to brag, but I got my window fixed like a responsible adult or whatever.”

“Impressive,” Jules said with a nod.

They stood, both taking a last look at the half-finished scrapbook. As nostalgia and joy and love filled their hearts, they left Jules’ bedroom and realized that they’d never felt more in tune with each other.


End file.
